Literacy should be viewed as a continuum of undereducation, stretching from those who cannot read and write at all at the low end to those who have less than a high school education at the high end. People at different points have different needs, which may differ greatly from those current literacy programs try to meet. The track record of existing literacy programs is weak. Outcome data are often unavailable; existing data show the vast majority of educationally disadvantaged adults are not being reached by programs and the people in programs do not stay in them. Instead of generalized assistance in learning to read, people want specific strategies to deal with specific self-defined problems. They rely on helping networks within the community, not on reading tutors or school-based programs. A "literacy support program" offering a range of services and learner-oriented assistance is probably a more viable model than a reading program staffed by volunteers. Also important is a learner-oriented approach. Four recommendations that address the problem of illiteracy are the following: parent-child programs to halt intergenerational transmission of illiteracy, use of networks and helping services, making materials more readable, and organizing for a working literacy. (YLB)