Freedom Readers

Freedom Readers is a tutoring service in Surfside Beach, SC, located at 1012 16th Ave N. The organization works to improve reading skills in low-income communities by providing one-to-one literacy tutoring, free books for home libraries, and structured learning environments for young scholars. Freedom Readers serves children from kindergarten through fifth grade, along with middle school students in its Advanced Placement Prep program, and supports the parents and caregivers of those scholars. It holds a rating of 5.00 based on 2 reviews. Founded in October 2009 by Tracy Bailey, then a doctoral student at the University of SC and an educational consultant, Freedom Readers began with two sites serving twenty children in the Conway area. Over ten years of operation, the program grew to 20 sites across three counties, with each site running spring, summer, and fall sessions lasting roughly eight to ten weeks. As many as twenty trained adult tutors work one-to-one with scholars at each site, and the organization sends children home with books to build their home libraries. Literacy volunteers are trained by university literacy professors and doctoral students in skills such as selecting appropriate books, keeping scholars focused, and teaching reading. The administrative office sits on 16th Ave N in Surfside Beach. Freedom Readers also publishes session dates each year and offers a Reading Lab that provides caregivers with reading assessments and personalized prescriptions for improvement, along with follow-up tutoring from trained volunteers.

Services:

• Advanced Placement Prep program
• After school and summer literacy programs
• Free books for home libraries
• One-to-one literacy tutoring
• Virtual reading assessments and personalized improvement plans