POTSDAM – The former director of Literacy of Northern New York’s St. Lawrence County program says she, the staff and the board of directors of the Potsdam Pubic Library are working to start a new program and raise $5,000 via GoFundMe for it.

“As the former LNNY Program Manager, I am thrilled to be on board with this new program and have signed on as the Adult/ESL Literacy Program Coordinator,” said Maria Morrison in an announcement of her intent to start a new program with the help of contributors to the online effort.

“At this time, St. Lawrence County adults no longer have access to vital literacy services which once granted them a free volunteer tutor to help improve their reading, writing, and/or math skills, or learn English as a second language,” she said on the GoFundMe page.

Late in August, the Watertown-based Literacy of Northern New York pulled its support from St. Lawrence County’s program with no warning.

“The Board of Directors of Literacy of Northern NY recently decided to close its St. Lawrence County office due to financial reasons,” said the program’s director, Cecilia Brock in a statement from LNNY.

“Expenditures for our St. Lawrence program exceeded revenue by more than $13,000 last fiscal year. LNNY is no longer able to operate the program at a loss. The decision was a difficult one to make,” the statement said.

Morrison said at the time that she and the Potsdam Public Library immediately began looking for an alternative.

This week she said that library Public Services Manager Sarah Sachs, Computer Center Coordinator and former literacy coordinator for the St. Lawrence County program Bobby Gordon, Library Director Annie Chase and the library’s board of directors “have graciously decided to institute a literacy program to address the fundamental need present in the North Country.”

So the GoFundMe campaign has begun online at https://www.gofundme.com/2sk3jy4?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=sharing_image&utm_campaign=invite_n .

The campaign, just underway Monday night, had raised $60 as of Tuesday afternoon.

“The sooner we have funds, the sooner we can purchase curriculum, supplies, tests, and other necessities so that adult literacy services can be freely provided again in St. Lawrence County,” Morrison said.