year of studies to obtain

my masters in library

and information science

through San Jose State

University and should

graduate some time in

2014.

Although I am excited to

see my family and friends

back home, I will genu-

inely miss the joy that

my students have

brought to my life. One

student commented,

“Miss Alicia, I bet you

will never have a job

that makes you laugh as

hard as this one.” She is

probably right! I have

had so much fun teach-

ing that it has hardly felt

like a job. I have enjoyed

getting to know such

amazing people and

learning about their lives

and culture. Thank you

for making this year one

I will never forget!

Nine months ago I

started teaching English

Exchange classes at six

different library

branches in Palm Beach

County and computer

classes at the Library

Annex. I never could

have imagined how many

wonderful and apprecia-

tive people I would meet

along the way. I feel so

lucky to have been able

to get to know so many

amazing students. Their

dedication to their edu-

cation is very admirable.

As my year of Literacy

AmeriCorps service

winds down I am plan-

ning my future. I am ex-

cited to move back to

my home state of Cali-

fornia to start my career

in library or museum

science. In the Fall I will

continue into my second

My Year of Service By Alicia Zuniga

I N S I D E

T H I S

I S S U E :

Essay contest

honoree:

Wilmot

Balfour

2

Essay contest

honorees:

Maria

Andrade and

Mohan

Deonath

3

Learn with

BYKI

Student

writing: Maria

Elena Porto-

carrero and

Grace Friend

4

Student

writing: Nidia

Carter

5

Student

writing: Lihua

Best and

Lourie Tate

6

Student

photos

7

Career Goal

Award

Program

8

P A L M B E A C H C O U N T Y

L I B R A R Y S Y S T E M

Between Us A D U L T L I T E R A C Y P R O J E C T S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

English Exchange at Main Library: Dariusz Tylko, Luis Rodolfo Rod-

riguez, Sandra Torres, Gladys Baumwald, Leonardo M., Alicia

Zuniga, Lucy Houser, Marlen Barrera, Maria Rojas and Carmen

Ariza.

P A G E 2

The Most Beautiful Place I Have Ever Seen

By Wilmot Balfour

I have seen many beau-

tiful places in my jour-

neys. I have seen a ce-

rulean night sky filled

with falling copper and

gold streaks. I have

seen the sun’s first

light glinting off a red-

dish-orange horizon on

a cool early spring

morning as a soft

breeze caressed my

face; however, the

night sky and the sun-

rise pale in comparison

to the brick and mor-

tar of a library. The

library is the most

beautiful place that I

have ever seen. It is

beautiful because of

what is inside—books.

Books of all shapes and

sizes. Big books, small

books, fat books, thin

books. And within the

pages of these books

are pictures, words,

stories, meaning,

knowledge and wis-

dom. The words in

books are so power-

ful—in a sentence—

you can be swept away

to a city or to a farm.

Books offer opportuni-

ties to explore, to

learn and to under-

stand the world

around you. You do

not have to travel the

world to see beauty;

you just have to open

a book. Words are

beautiful. Words

teach. Words touch

the soul. Words are

the cerulean night

skies and the rising

morning suns of my

world.

B E T W E E N U S

Library Literacy Friends board at the Belle Glade

Branch opening: Seymour Goldstein, Maxine Gins-

berg, Wilmot Balfour, Carol Weyhe, Phyllis Lilley and

Donna Towns.

The annual Adult

Literacy Essay Con-

test asked students

to answer the ques-

tion, “What is the

most beautiful place

you have ever

seen?” This year’s

honorees are show-

cased with their sub-

missions in the fol-

lowing pages.

Wilmot Balfour poses for a photo with his

honoree award for the Adult Essay Con-

test.

Lencoes Marahence By Maria Andrade

P A G E 3 S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

In July 2011 we de-

cided to take our vacation

in Brazil. We chose to

visit our family in Maran-

hao which is the capital of

San Luis in north Brazil.

We went to explore

Lencoes Marahence. This

is such a beautiful area of

dunes, rivers and the sea.

We rented a 4wheel

drive truck, so that we

could reach this remote

area. We took a ferry

boat to cross the river

Pregulfa to get to Lencoes.

Lencoes is a paradise

of high dunes, lakes and

the ocean which is almost

impossible to describe

how beautiful it is. The

lakes are cristal blue from

the rain. There are also

many colorful birds and

animals.

If you stay on the ferry

boat, you will arrive

where the river joins the

ocean. We walked up and

down the dunes, and we

went swimming in the

lakes and ocean.

We stayed late so we

could see the most gor-

geous sunset.

We all agreed that this

national park was the best

place ever to visit.

It was a beautiful

day in Trinidad. Where I

lived before I came to

America, I was on vacation

from my job and my family

and I were home and had

no plans, but we had al-

ways loved the beach.

In my country, we

always go to the beach

with company, because it

is always much more fun

when there are more peo-

ple. So I called one of my

sisters and a couple of

friends and we discussed

going to visit Tobago.

We all decided

that we were going so we

made arrangements. We

all went to Tobago. On

arrival, there were lots of

people there already and

waiting on visitors to take

them on tours, so we de-

cided to go out in the

ocean to a place called

Nylon Pool. It is a place in

the middle of the ocean

that is very shallow. I saw

lots of species of fishes

and different shapes of

corals. It was so beautiful.

It was amazing.

We went snorkel-

ing, tried catching the fish

of course, but we could-

n’t. There were so many

colors of fishes. It was like

being inside of an aquar-

ium. I was very happy to

see this place. After that, I

always visited this place

whenever I went to my

sister’s island called To-

bago.

The Most Beautiful Place I Have Ever Seen By Mohan Deonath

P A G E 4

What does English Exchange mean to you?

BYKI

I have been very happy with this adult people program, because it gives us the opportunity

to speak about many topics, which are important to learn vocabulary and English idioms.

This way we can express ourselves better, when we talk with some people in English. This

program is important too, because we improve our pronunciation and the use of verb

tenses and personal pronouns, which we always get confused about.

Thank you very much Alicia!

Maria Elena Portocarrero, English Exchange student at the Greenacres Branch

B E T W E E N U S

English Exchange program means to me an opportunity to practice English and meet people.

I am new in this city, so, I do not have friends around where I live. This program besides

learn and practice English allows me to mingle with other persons of different nationalities,

which is very interesting!

I wish this program could be done more frequently. I enjoy it very much.

Grace Friend, English Exchange student at the Okeechobee Boulevard Branch

Learn English for free with BYKI!

This interactive English for Speakers of Other Languages

(ESOL) site allows students to improve grammar,

writing and conversation skills.

Go to www.pbclibrary.org.

Find Services on the menu.

Choose Adult Literacy Project.

Go to Useful Links for Students.

Select BYKI and begin your lessons!

English Exchange Class By Nidia “Nani” Carter

P A G E 5 S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

Libraries offer

many interesting and im-

portant activities. I marvel

when I read the monthly

newsletters and learn

about book discussions

and lessons of different types for adults, children

and teens.

It is a great privi-

lege to be able to sit at a

conference table with an

English teacher and other

foreigners.

Ms. Alicia guides us

in an active exchange of

ideas among all of us to

practice conversation in

every class. We also read articles about different

subjects. It helps us with

the pronunciation of

words and we hear a song

which gives us a good idea

of our understanding.

Thank you to eve-

ryone that organizes our

libraries to offer every pa-

tron so much knowledge

and entertainment.

May God bless hu-

mankind with what we

enjoy in the USA today.

English Exchange at

the Okeechobee

Boulevard Branch:

Grace Friend, Ana

Ramos, Homa Mahin

and Ana Maria Pelaez.

P A G E 6

B E T W E E N U S

The Beautiful Letter By Lihua Best Yesterday I went to the library.

Books were quietly standing on the shelf,

Sending out light grief. The classroom door did not open.

There, the young boy like a beautiful butterfly, flew a short time.

Then I will not see him forever.

Today I go to the library.

Books are quietly standing on the shelf,

Sending out refreshing smell. A young girl like a fresh flower, is sitting

in the classroom.

We are so happy to talk, as if we are old friends.

Tomorrow I am going to the library. Books will be still standing on the

shelf,

Sending out a fragrant smell. I can sing and dance in the English world.

That black A will be warmly, warmly engraved on my mind.

I had the wonderful op-

portunity to visit and have a

very lovely lunch with new

friends. While we were stroll-

ing the lusciously filled land-

scaping surrounding the one-

mile boardwalk, I noticed a

small 3-foot-long alligator lying

on the side of the bank sunning

himself. His dark gray, dry

leather-like hide, and armor of

sorts, was perfect for protect-

ing him from the outdoor ele-

ments.

I thought to myself, he

has the Life of Riley. He didn’t

seem to have a care; after all,

he is the king of the pond.

Or maybe not! Poor

thing doesn’t have anything to

do all day but sleep. He has no

television, no movie night, no

dancing till dawn, or dining out.

It just goes to show you, you

can’t tell from looks alone how

great a life is, it may be a differ-

ent outlook entirely.

I guess it goes with,

“Careful what you ask for, you

just might get it!”

What do you think?

A Life of Riley? By Lourie Tate

P A G E 7 S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

English Exchange at the West Boca Branch: Georgina

Demejias, Lourdes Serrano, Daniela Vargas, Deborah Schulze,

Josee Morin, Violeta Ottinger, Alicia Zuniga, Clara I-Gonzalez

and Gladys Munoz.

Computer Basics I course at the Library Annex: Sulamise

Marius, Hubert Duliepre and Fernande Barthelemy.

Computer Basics I course at the Library Annex: Doris Ducasse,

Alicia Zuniga, Arma Adderley and Marie Lahens.

English Exchange at the Greenacres Branch: Otto Sanchez,

Luz Medina and Maria L. Valencia.

English Exchange at the Jupiter Branch: Jose De Freitas,

Stella Tuer, Gladys Salinas, Maria Balasanyan, Alicia Zuniga,

Adriana Torrents, Vanessa Cueva, Yadyra Magallon,

Johanna Rodriguez Peel and Katia Soares.

P A G E 8

B E T W E E N U S

Library Literacy Friends wish you a

safe and fun summer!

Learner Leader Advisor: Carol Weyhe

Editor: Alicia Zuniga

Career Goal Award Program

By earning a new license, certification or citizenship

you could receive up to $100!

It’s easy to do.

Take a moment to call the Volunteer Desk and learn more.

(561) 649-5495

We’re waiting to hear from you.