For more than a decade, the number of adults who cannot read has plateaued at around 32 million (HuffPost Books, 2014). According to the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, 67% of children are not proficient readers by the end of third grade (Smith, 2015). Given the high stakes attached to acquiring multiple literacies in order to access basic…

Literacy is one of the strongest predictors of adult success, yet one in four children are illiterate and 50% of adults cannot read a book that is written on an eighth grade level. Although African American children from low-income homes are three times more likely than White children to be poor, and at greater risk for illiteracy, this author is…

Examines library-based literacy programs. Topics discussed include changes over the past eight years; current statistics; the relationship between libraries and literacy; advantages of using libraries for literacy programs, including social neutrality; immigrant populations and English as a Second Language; intergenerational family programs; and…

An adult basic education (ABE) class was developed to help parolees of the Schuylkill County Prison develop reading, writing, and communication skills and use those skills in a community service project aimed at helping at-risk youth. Parolees were recruited into the project through county parole officers, and their reading, writing, self-esteem,…

A project provided family literacy services in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. The "Together We Learn" project had four objectives: (1) promoting family literacy by using the Project PACT (Parents and Children Together) model in two 10-week sessions; (2) improving parents' basic skills so they can work better with their children; (3) assisting…