Most literacy experts agree that "literacy is regarded as a social practice, rather than as merely a set of decontextualized or abstract skills such as decoding symbols to sounds or finding the main idea of a passage" (Handel 1999; Barton, Hamilton, and Ivanic 2000). For example, very young children may learn to appreciate that being read to offers them the gifts of time and intimacy by their elders. Thus, children who seek to be read to or who select books as a pleasure activity gain both enjoyment and knowledge. This idea appears so simple and powerful, but not so easily observed for many reasons. Neuman (1998) suggests that defining literacy has become a far more complex process than was ever conceived before. "The challenge...is to understand how we can help to support collaborative relationships among schools, families, and communities to aid children's literacy development" (29). This article briefly discusses the history of family literacy programs, including the National Center for Family Literacy, and offers a critical look at the concepts of family literacy. (Contains 10 online resources.)