SACRAMENTO >> This month, California Library Literacy Services, a program of the California State Library, celebrates 30 years of work with low-literate adults and their families. Since its inception, California”s Library Literacy Services has helped nearly a quarter of a million Californians learn to read and write.
To mark the 30th anniversary milestone of this volunteer-based program, the state is launching a month-long awareness campaign titled “Together, California Reads” to encourage communities to support the efforts of their local public libraries in raising adult literacy rates statewide.
The U.S. Department of Education”s National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that nearly 25 percent of California adults lack basic literacy skills — meaning they can”t read a newspaper, a bedtime story to a child or the instructions on a bottle of medicine. Based on the state”s current population, as many as 4.5 million Californians older than 18 read below fourth-grade levels.
Low adult literacy contributes to socioeconomic challenges, with a high percentage of prison inmates and those living in poverty testing at the lowest literacy levels. The children of low-literate parents often aren”t read to and have few books in the home, leading to future generations of low-literate adults.
According to ProLiteracy, low adult literacy creates a detrimental cycle that is estimated to cost the U.S. more than $225 billion each year in workforce non-productivity and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
“All over California, trained volunteer tutors are reversing the low adult literacy cycle by working one-on-one with adult learners to help improve their reading skills,” Greg Lucas, California”s State Librarian, said. “The sad fact is there just aren”t enough volunteers to meet demand. Nearly 4,000 eager-to-learn adults are on waiting lists across the state.”
Last year, California public libraries provided services at 558 locations to 21,192 adult learners through nearly 10,700 volunteers generating more than 500,000 hours of service.
Last year, 72 percent of those who set goals were able to share a book with their child, and 65 percent were able to help their children with their homework. Sixty-five percent were able to complete a job application and 57 percent wrote their own resume.
“What”s awesome is the magic that happens when learners and tutors come together,” Carla Lehn, California Library Literacy Services program coordinator, said. “Not only is the learner”s life changed for the better but so is the volunteer, even though they may be giving just a couple of hours a week.”
A complete statewide listing of public library events celebrating 30 years of California”s Library Literacy Services, can be found at www.calreads.org.
