There is a strong presence of illiteracy in the Farmville area even though there are many programs that offer literacy education.
According to the Virginia Historical Society, after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, a resistance built within the South to prevent integration.
In Virginia, the governor closed public schools across the state to stop integration. In 1959, the courts ruled that the closings were unconstitutional, and all schools reopened except for those in Prince Edward County.
For five years, Prince Edward schools remained closed, leaving about 1,700 black and lower-income white students to either find another school outside the county or to wait at home for five years.
As a result, many of the students who were denied an education at that time grew up without ever being able to obtain an education. Some students were able to get their GED or went to the Free School, which was set up by the Farmville community.
Park View Garden Apartments are government funded and rent low-income family housing in Farmville. “Around 46-48 percent of adults from our 80 households cannot read,” says Patty Jones, the Park View Property Manager. Jones explained that Park View used to offer a GED program for their community members but recently the program was terminated for a lack of interest.
“We no longer have a GED program but we still need one. I honestly think it’s because people are embarrassed that others will find out they can’t read,” says Jones, regarding the lack of interest.
Jones continues to point out what could potentially cause a greater issue in the Farmville community by encouraging parents to keep their children in mind. Even if they didn’t graduate from high school, the parents should still support their children’s education.
The Central Virginia Regional Library, which consists of Farmville and Buckingham counties, offers adult literacy programs for Buckingham but not for Farmville. However, the Farmville Library does consistently offer programs for children.
“I think the children that use the library have higher reading levels than those who don’t,” says Cindy Southall, the children’s programmer for the library.
When asked about how many children participate in these free programs, Southall was unable to provide an exact number.
Regarding the reason why children might not be able to attend the programs Southall said, “I think a lot of it is getting here for the programs we have. Transportation is a problem, but it also takes the intention to say ‘I’m going to go.’”
Jones encourages parents to reach out to the free literacy programs in hopes of educating the local community.
“If a program is sitting right here, and you’re too embarrassed to let people know you don’t read, to me that’s just silly… I think that too many people are embarrassed to say they can’t read,” said Jones.
