Our organization was founded in 1978 in New London, CT and in 1997 merged with the Literacy Volunteers of Norwich. Our service area now encompasses all of New London county and much of Eastern Connecticut.

​

The original mission was to teach basic literacy skills to English-speaking individuals over the age of sixteen who were unable to read or write. The significant influx of immigrants to Eastern Connecticut in recent years has drastically changed the services LVEC is called on to provide. Today, fewer than 20% of our learners are acquiring basic literacy skills while about 90% are learning English as a second or third language. As a result, LVEC's primary goals are to: 

​

1. Provide tutoring services to adult English speakers who are learning to read English.

​

2. Provide tutoring, computer-assisted learning opportunities, and conversation groups to support New American adults to speak and understand English.

​

3. Recruit and train volunteer tutors to provide the services necessary for LVEC to accomplish its first two goals.

​

LVEC collaborates with a number of organizations in order to meet these goals. Of particular value to LVEC are its relationships with local adult and continuing education programs as well as the community libraries of Southeastern Connecticut.

​