Midcoast Literacy tutor Bryan Lee and his learner at an outdoor Read Together session. Contributed photo via Midcoast Literacy

Midcoast Literacy — a Bath-based nonprofit providing free tutoring for children and adults — is seeking volunteers for short-term and long-term programs this fall.

Midcoast Literacy’s Conversation Café will be running a series of weekly sessions at Wild Oats Bakery at Brunswick Landing starting Sept. 16. This is an informal opportunity for adult English Language Learners to engage in one-on-one conversations with fluent English speakers.

“The Conversation Café is a great opportunity for local people to talk with and get to know some of the New Mainers who are making Maine their home,” Midcoast Literacy Executice Director Don Lader said. “No training is necessary. It’s a fun, easy, and delicious way to spend a couple of hours meeting new friends and helping them practice their English.”

Midcoast Literacy’s Read Together Program, which has already helped dozens of kids improve their reading and writing skills, is also seeking additional volunteers. Training for new tutors will be held Sept. 13, 15 and 17. The children served by Read Together have a range of learning needs and backgrounds. Many of the students receive special education services at school but can benefit from the added attention individualized tutoring can give them. Others who are new to Maine need help learning to read and write as well as to speak English fluently.

“Becoming a tutor is a significant commitment, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to help change a child’s life,” said Katie Clark, the program director. “Being a tutor isn’t the same as being a classroom teacher, and you don’t need to have prior teaching experience to volunteer. As a tutor, you get to focus on just one child. You choose books and activities that appeal specifically to your unique student, and you build a wonderful relationship in the process.”

For the first time since Read Together was started, there is a waiting list of children. Volunteers are specifically needed in Bath, Brunswick, Richmond and Boothbay Harbor. New tutors participate in a 12-hour training program which includes background checks. Each tutor is then matched with a local student aged 6-14. Tutors and students make an initial commitment to meet twice a week for 12 months. The tutoring sessions are conducted outside the school day and arranged to fit the schedules of the individual tutor and the student’s family.

The next Tutor Training will be Sept. 13, 15 and 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day at Midcoast Literacy, 9 Park St., Bath. For more information or to sign up, contact Katie Clark at k.clark@midcoastliteracy.org. To volunteer for the Conversation Cafés at Wild Oats Bakery in September, e-mail admin@midcoastliteracy.org.