THE HISTORY OF
ADULT LITERACY FREDERICTON
The first Literacy Council of Fredericton was founded in 1978 when a worker at the Kingsclear Reformatory/Youth Training Centre noticed that many of the inmates had difficulty reading. The Literacy Council in Saint John was contacted and asked to arrange for their instructors to conduct a tutor training session at the Reformatory. The 23 individuals who attended were the first Frederictonians to be trained in the Laubach style of teaching.
The Laubach style of teaching was founded by literacy pioneer and missionary, Frank Laubach whose materials incorporated vocabulary development and comprehensive exercises. Dr. Laubach’s challenge “Each one teach one” continues as a challenge today.
While the Laubach Way to read was the initial program used by the Council, in the mid 1980’s three new programs (Challenger, Endeavor, Voyager) were added to challenge more advanced learners. In the meantime a demand for English as a Second Language
(ESL) tutoring grew and after volunteers were trained, the program was introduced in 2004.
The Saint John group acted as a resource base in tutor training and defining the role of the Fredericton group until 1983. The first Executive for the Fredericton Literacy Council was taken from the 23 people who attended the first Kingsclear tutor training workshop. The first President was Joyce Astle (1978-1983) and the first Student-Tutor Co-Ordinator was Dib Watson (1978-1979). There was no Office Manager; however, there was a Librarian who coordinated all the literacy materials and established the Literacy Council Library in 1986. When long time Librarian Juanita Fowler retired in 2002, the first “part time” Office Manager/Librarian was hired in 2003. In 2005 the position of Librarian was dropped and Student-Tutor Co-Ordinator and Office Manager were combined. In 2016
the title was changed to Executive Director.
The LCF office was established at the Charlotte Street Centre of the New Brunswick Community College (now Charlotte Street Art Centre) from 1978 until it closed in 1998. It was moved to the Victoria Health Centre where it remained until 2024. In the beginning the room was used for an office until 2004 when the Board opted to occupy two rooms with one of them to be used as a Student-Tutor room. In 2015 the United Way’s “Day of Caring” provided assistance when the Student-Tutor room underwent a major renovation which added greatly to the learning atmosphere.
The decision was made to relocate the headquarters to St. Paul’s United Church Hall in 2023 where there would be storage available as well as space for the office plus the student-tutor room. Unfortunately shortly after the move in April 2024, the building sold and we were required to move by the end of February 2025.
The Council kept its name until 2000 when at the request of Laubach Literacy Canada the Board began considering adding Laubach to the title. After determining the cost factor in making the application to change the name, it was decided to verbalize “Laubach” by way of employing every occasion to mention the corporate name verbally or in writing.
Pressure continued from LLC to change the name and in 2002 it was officially changed. As time went by the word “Laubach” became confusing for the public and in 2015 the Board made the decision to change the name to Adult Literacy Fredericton (ALF). Laubach Literacy Fredericton Inc. was to remain the official title while ALF would be the “public face”. In 2024 the mascot, ALFIE the Owl , was
introduced based on votes from patrons at the annual Book Sale.
The first LCF by-laws were written in 1979 because organizations were not eligible for a charitable tax number unless the rules and regulations of the organization were set out. By-laws were necessary as they described the objectives of the group and offered proof that it was a non profit organization. The LCF was the first council to apply for a charitable tax number enabling it to issue receipts for people who made donations.
When the LCF became incorporated in 1986 a new set of by-laws became necessary because the original set was deemed to be too elementary. As an incorporated organization, a more professional set of by-laws was essential and it was necessary to address problems that had arisen since 1979. The bylaws were revised again in 1996 and have been tweaked several times since.
The question of fundraising has been an issue since the Council was established. In the beginning support came from the community through its service clubs, churches, the University of New Brunswick and individual donations. The Federal and/or the Provincial governments could not be relied on and the group did not receive United Way funding until February 1983. The primary source of revenue came from the Literacy Council membership supplemented by the sale of baked goods, household articles, books and donated items. The year 1990 was set aside as “International Literacy Year” and the Council received a government grant which was the beginning of a source of revenue to assist in expenses.
In 2016 the Council contacted Government House staff with a request for them to host the annual meeting in April. The request was graciously accepted and the Hon. Jocelyn Roy Vienneau was named honorary patron of Adult Literacy Fredericton. Literacy had been an issue that her Hon. championed during her tenure as lieutenant-governor. After her untimely death, The Hon. Jocelyn Roy Vienneau Memorial Adult Literacy Award was established in 2019 as a tribute to the memory of the late lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. It is awarded each year to recognize the significant contribution made by an individual towards addressing the issue of adult literacy.
Since the inception of the Literacy Council of Fredericton forty-seven years ago, the vision and goals have not changed. The slow but gradual growth still maintains free, confidential and personalized one-to-one instruction where learners progress at their own rate. It is a winning combination.
Prepared by
Joan Somerville
Board Member 1998-
