At Project Read, reading is more than a project, it's a ticket to a better life
Our Mission
Project Read changes lives through literacy and empowers individuals, strengthens families, builds communities, and creates new cycles of intergenerational literacy.
Our Belief
We believe that every person has the right to the options and opportunities that literacy provides. When literacy is achieved, doors are opened, opportunities gained, and lives are changed.
Our Services
We provide individual tutoring and small group instruction to help individuals improve their ability to read, write, compute, and use technology sufficiently to meet personal goals, function well in society, and become more productive citizens.
Our Students
Project Read students live in Utah, are at least 16 years old, speak English competently, and test at or below a high school level in reading, language, or math. Project Read serves minority adults, low-income adults, and at-risk and special-needs adults, as well as those with learning disabilities. Many are homeless or require public assistance to meet their daily needs. Project Read students are a presumed benefit category for low-moderate income (LMI) services and therefore qualify for Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) funding.
Core Values
Respect
We recognize the worth, quality, and importance of all those associated with Project Read
Empowerment
We empower students and volunteers to affect change in their own lives and the community.
Achievement
We measure ourselves against accepted standards of literacy but also personal standards of accomplishment.
Difference
We are committed to making a positive difference (impact) in our community and in the lives of our students and volunteers.
Project Read History
A BYU master’s student recognized a gap in services for adult learners. There were services for English Language Learners and services for adults working on a high school diploma or GED, but there were no services for adults with low literacy skills. She brought together the Provo City Library, Orem Library, and Provo School District to create Project Read and address the need.
Read becomes a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity separate from the Provo School District and Provo City Library. While still housed in the library and grateful for its generosity, separate legal status allows flexibility in fundraising and organizational management.
Project Read chose to rebrand, creating a new logo and vision statement: changing lives through literacy. In addition, Project Read added weekly literacy labs to increase student learning opportunities. Since then, improved services to students include additional programs such as a six-month transition program, monthly lunch and learn workshops, and a weekly conversation club.
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 required a new approach to instruction and inspired the inclusion of both digital literacy and basic math instruction to Project Read’s mission. In 2022, Project Read opened a second office to serve Salt Lake County residents.