FARMINGTON — Crystal Avery and her tutor, Corrilla Hastings, were honored as the student and tutor of the year from Franklin and Somerset counties at the annual meeting of Literacy Volunteers of Maine at the University of Southern Maine Library, Portland.

Avery has been working with a Literacy Volunteer tutor for several years and has made great strides in improving her reading ability and in turning her life around. She now has her driver’s license and enjoys reading Nancy Drew mysteries.

There are many adults like Avery in Franklin and Somerset counties who can change their lives and gain more confidence if they could learn to read or improve basic reading skills. In Maine, an estimated 100,000 adults read at a fifth-grade level or less and are unable to fill out job applications, read the label on a medicine bottle or curl up with a good book.

Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties is a nonprofit, United Way funded organization, which trains tutors to teach adults to improve their reading skills. They will hold a basic reading tutor training workshop from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, Oct. 3 and 10. The classes will be held at the Adult Basic Education Office.

Anyone who would like to become a Literacy Volunteer tutor should call 778-3460 or e-mail LiteracyVolunteers@msad9.org to sign up. There is a $20 fee for materials, but scholarships are available.