Literacy…paper out for review. Developed as background for USF SLIS Seminar in Adult Lifelong Learning and Adult Literacy. Summer, 2001.
Public policies affecting the funding for adult education and adult literacy through public libraries have created a new context for service. The article identifies the current status of literacy programs, reviews the historical relationship between adult education and public libraries, and examines current national legislation. Ethical dilemmas of the work first ideology are presented.
“By 2010, a system of high quality adult literacy, language, and lifelong learning services will help adults in every community make measurable gains toward achieving their goals as family members, workers, citizens, and lifelong learners.”
From the Margins to the Mainstream: An Action Agenda for Literacy.1
Current public policies that affect funding for much adult education and literacy have been crafted in the context of economically driven ideologies such as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Librarians who serve adult learners have generally come to their work through a commitment to provide an expanded view of the world that can be brought to the mind and spirit through reading and literature. Yet the implementation of programs for adult learners through libraries funded with government monies may create a sense of discontinuity for librarians as demands for work-force accountability conflict with librarians’ traditional focus on humanistic aspects of adult education. An exploration of the very complex current governmental and professional perspectives that comprise adult learning and literacy will help illuminate some of these issues.
The Foundation Paper presented at the invitational National Literacy Summit held in February 2000 had as its primary aim the provision of information on the history and current state of adult education in the U.S., and laid the groundwork for action to build a stronger field in the coming years to serve adults with literacy needs.2 Librarians were well represented at the Summit and libraries identified as stakeholders along with adult education, language and literacy providers; federal, state, and local human services agencies and elected officials; businesses; unions; educational and correctional institutions. With so many providers and opportunities for partnerships it is essential that the library community come to adult education discussions informed about policy and with the knowledge of their long tradition of committed involvement.
This article reviews the current and historical participation of librarians serving adult learners and identifies library connections to the adult education movement. It also reviews government policy that is shaping the current delivery of adult education opportunities to provide as broad as possible an understanding of social and economic concerns. By noting some of the issues confronting adult educators under the recently enacted welfare reform and workforce development legislation, librarians can formulate service responses in keeping with these issues. Understanding the history of adult education and literacy in public libraries will enable providers to offer services in light of a tradition and partnership nearly a century old.
Support for literacy programs in
public libraries in the United States continues to increase. Public libraries
surveyed by Estabrook and Lakner in 2000 reported 30.1per cent directly involved
in literacy programs and 94.1 per cent making referrals. Over 43,000 learners in Adult Basic
Education, 31,000 in English as a Second Language, and 20,000 in Family
Literacy programs are served by public libraries.3 The recent (2001)
volume, Literacy and Libraries: Learning from Case Studies, published by
the American Library Association (ALA) provides many examples of adult
education and literacy programs in public libraries and calls for public
libraries to become literacy-centered institutions.4
The American Library Association’s commitment to adult education and literacy is a strong indicator of librarian involvement. Focusing on the ALA by no means provides a comprehensive assessment of the role public librarians play in delivering adult education today. To render such an assessment would require analysis of every state association’s actions, policies and journal literature; review of the plans and grant history of every state library agency; and examination of planning documents and annual reports of every public library in the United States. Yet by providing a review of ALA’s commitment, as an avatar, if you will – it can be determined that adult education and literacy are among the most important values of the profession.
Currently 21st Century Literacy is one of the American Library Association’s “Key Action Areas:
“ For adult learners, public libraries are places where they can learn and practice new skills. Most public libraries provide information and referral about adult literacy programs in their communities. About one in three public libraries sponsors literacy programs for adults who wish to improve their reading skills. These include one-on-one tutoring, small group instruction and programs to help immigrants improve their English literacy skills. A growing number of public libraries also sponsor family literacy programs. These programs aim both to help parents improve their reading skills and to help them raise children who are readers and lifelong learners. Some libraries have closed-captioned and audio descriptive videos for people with hearing and vision disabilities. Many libraries have books on tape and other alternative formats for those learning English as a second language, or who have print or learning disabilities.” 5
The ALA has a full-time Literacy Officer in the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS) who is ALA liaison to Build Literacy @ Your Library, works with the Verizon Literacy project, the Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, and the National Coalition for Literacy including ALA’s participation in the National Literacy Summit. The Literacy Officer also coordinates a boundary spanning Literacy Assembly within the ALA and is liaison to the Association’s new Council Committee on Literacy.
Through its Public Programs Office
another of ALA’s “Key Action Areas,” Education and Continuous Learning,
is realized. The Public Programs Office acts as a catalyst to create opportunities
for the public for lifelong learning through libraries by promoting and
supporting all types of libraries in their role as cultural centers. Discussion
programs are designed to more firmly establish the library as a community
cultural center by bringing together current and future readers, writers,
scholars, artists and lifelong learners. The efforts of the Public Programs
Office are designed to link libraries, communities and culture while creating
unique partnerships and opportunities for collaboration. Funders and partners
of ALA Public Programs include the National Endowment for the Humanities, National
Endowment for the Arts, Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, The John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation, National Video Resources, state humanities councils,
museums, public radio stations and literary organizations. 6
Divisions within ALA have also designated committees that focus on adult education and literacy such as the Reference and User Services Association, Services to Adults Committee; Public Library Association (PLA), Basic Education and Literacy Services Committee; PLA Resources for the Adult New Reader Committee; and the PLA Adult Lifelong Learning Committee that compiles an annual list of outstanding books, fiction and nonfiction to serve the needs of newly literate adults.
Because of this level of activity and commitment there is need for interdisciplinary grounding and synthesis regarding the role of adult literacy and lifelong learning in public libraries. Adult literacy and lifelong learning need to be understood as far more than a series of good works, but as integral components of our profession’s efforts to achieve information equity.7 In an article in American Libraries ALA Literacy Officer, Dale Lipschultz wrote “ The Association’s mission statement and action goals provide a compelling rationale for expanding the curriculum of MLIS programs to include courses and seminars addressing adult learning and literacy.” 8 The recent literature of the field finds only one substantive analysis of LIS students involved in adult education, Sondra Cuban’s and Elisabeth Hayes’ case histories of five students who participated in an interdisciplinary course on community service and literacy.9
There is, indeed, a deficiency of
concentration on adult lifelong learning and literacy in programs of library
and information science (LIS) education. The reason for lack of attention as a
curricular focus of LIS programs may well be that the intellectual and
historical bases of adult education and literacy are not part of the current
research interests of LIS faculty. Literature about adult education and
literacy in LIS over the last twenty-five years has tended to be anecdotal and
field-based, rather than theoretical and research-based. Contrast this with the
upsurge of articles and research on information literacy—a content area
with theoretical bases that appeal to faculty and academic librarians who
submit most of librarianship’s refereed literature. The majority of theoretical literature and research about adult
literacy and lifelong learning is based in colleges of education or in
departments of adult education and is seldom referenced in the literature of
librarianship. Interdisciplinarity among LIS faculty tends to be in areas such
as history, computer science, information systems design or instructional
technology. Of 196 faculty holding earned doctorates outside of library and
information science in 2000 as reported by the Association for Library and
Information Science Education, not one current faculty member reported adult
education as an area of doctoral study.10
Why is it easier to embrace intellectual concepts such as First Amendment issues than to write about teaching reading to adults who need a second chance? Peggy Barber has asked 11 It may be that the interrelationship between the marginal status of the disenfranchised served and those who provide adult education through public libraries has made adult education a matter of less concern.12 Concomitantly, the study of the effect of adult education provided through public libraries may also be deemed less important as a topic for scholarly research in the Darwinian halls of an academia where there are more likely rewards for studying the competitive edge than leveling the playing field.
To understand the relationship of librarians to adult education and literacy requires an historical knowledge of the field’s development, its linkages with other disciplines, its support by various federal programs and foundations and its manifestations within the ALA’s association structure. All this helps with a systemic understanding of politics, philanthropy, educational history, and the organizational framework of librarianship. It is not neat, it is not simple and it does not easily fit into a model making for acceptable scholarship. Assessment of literacy is further confounded by the different approaches (and theoretical frameworks) depending upon whether or not the literacy initiative is for adults, families, reading readiness or second language acquisition.
Librarians graduating today do not have the same grounding in adult education theory and research that they had a generation ago. Once librarians and adult educators worked through the same literature to come to common understanding. The discipline of adult education has its own literature, its own scholars, its own think tanks and its own policy institutes. The mission of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) located at Harvard is to conduct the research, development, evaluation, and dissemination needed to build effective, cost-efficient adult learning and literacy programs. A review of the research and publications developed through the auspices of NCSALL finds little attention to adult education activities in libraries and a review of the writings in the literature of librarianship finds little attention to the concerns addressed by adult education researchers.13
In the early part of this century the American Library Association was closely aligned with the adult education movement. In her exploration of the founding of the American Association for Adult Education (AAAE) Amy D. Rose observes that both adult education and libraries were viewed by the Carnegie Foundation as contributing to the diffusion of knowledge to assist people in making decisions about their own lives.14
The history of the adult education
movement in the United States has been written by Malcolm S. Knowles who
includes public libraries in his account, noting that by the 1920s “the library
moved from the status of an adult education resource toward that of an adult
education operating agency, that it moved from perceiving its constituency as
consisting of individuals toward perceiving it as a total community, and that
it moved from regarding its function as custodial toward regarding it as
educational.” 15
In her historical review of library adult education Margaret E. Monroe identified a variety of library services to adults that incorporated aspects of adult education before 1920. 16 In addition to Monroe’s classic history, Lester Asheim, Peggy Barber, Lynn E. Birge, Elizabeth J. Burge, Jean E. Coleman, Cyril O. Houle, Alvin Johnson, Deborah Wilcox Johnson, Robert Ellis Lee, Helen H. Lyman, Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Bernice McDonald, Douglas Raber, Jane Robbins, Gary O. Rolstad, Ester Gottlieb Smith, Carole Talon, Connie Van Fleet, Danny P. Wallace, Ruth Warncke and Douglas Zweizig are among those who have defined the role of libraries in adult education and literacy. From these writers the following chronology has been developed.17 (Additional references are provided to other key documents).
1924. William S. Learned’s report to the Carnegie Corporation, The American Public Library and the Diffusion of Knowledge, is published.18
The American Library Association establishes the Commission on the Library and Adult Education.
1926. The ALA Commission on the Library
and Adult Education issues the report Libraries and Adult Education.
19
The ALA establishes the Board on Library and Adult Education
(later the Adult Education Board) with ongoing reports in the ALA Bulletin.
“Reading with a Purpose” pamphlets begin publication and are issued through
1931.20
1934. The Adult Education Board issues an annual report emphasizing liaison with other agencies such as the American Association for Adult Education. John M. Chancellor hired by the American Library Association as an assistant in adult education.
1938. Alvin Johnson, The Public Library—A People’s University (New York: American Association for Adult Education, 1938).
1946. Adult Education Section established within the Public Library Division.
1948. “Great Issues” program adult discussion group launched at ALA.
1951. Fund for Adult Education of the Ford Foundation awards ALA $150,000 for the American Heritage Project directed by Grace T. Stevenson, secretary of the Adult Education Board.
1952. Additional Ford Foundation funding used for ALA to create an Office of Adult Education.
1954. Helen H. Lyman, Adult Education Activities in Public Libraries (as Helen Lyman Smith) (Chicago: ALA).
1955. Lester Asheim, Training Needs of Librarians Doing Adult Education Work (Chicago: ALA).
Library-Community Project at ALA, directed by Ruth Warncke, continues to 1960. Support from the Fund for Adult Education.
1956. Experimental Projects in Adult Education, Report of the ALA Adult Education Subgrant Project; Twenty Experimental Projects in Adult Education Conducted by Libraries. (Chicago: ALA, Office for Adult Education).
1957. Adult Services Division (ASD) established as a separate Division within the American Library Association with Eleanor Phinney as Executive Secretary.
1958. Charles H. Hewitt, Grant Evaluation Study (Fund for Adult Education, ALA, Office for Adult Education); (Chicago, ALA).
1963. Margaret E. Monroe. Library Adult Education: The Biography of an Idea (New York: Scarecrow Press).
Adult Services Division Newsletter launched.
1964. Bernice McDonald, Literacy Activities and Public Libraries (Chicago: ALA).
1966. Adult Education Act.
Robert Ellis Lee, Continuing Education for Adults through the American Public Library 1833-1966 (Chicago: ALA).
1970 “Library Rights of Adults” A Call for Action” adopted and endorsed by ASD and the Reference Services Division (RSD). 21
1972. ASD
and RSD merge with Andrew Hansen as executive secretary. RQ, RSD
quarterly journal, absorbs ASD Newsletter and expands coverage of adult
services.22
1973. Helen H. Lyman, Library Materials in Service to the Adult New Reader (Chicago: ALA).
1976. Helen H. Lyman, Reading and the Adult New Reader (Chicago: ALA).
Alternative Education Programs Section (AEPS) established in the Public Library
Association "to promote public library programs and services relating to literacy, adult basic education, continuing education, independent and other learning modes; to stimulate continued professional growth in these special areas; to provide a broad forum for the exchange of current research, strategies, techniques, and activities; and to create an environment role of the library in learning services."
1977. Helen H. Lyman, Literacy and the Nation’s Libraries (Chicago: ALA).
The Center for the Book in the Library of
Congress (Public Law 95-129) established to stimulate public interest in books,
reading, and libraries and to encourage the study of books and print culture.
The Center for the Book works closely with other organizations to foster
understanding of the vital role of books, reading, libraries and literacy in
society.
1979. White House Conference on Library and Information Services includes life-long learning as a theme. Resolution on literacy calls for the expansion of literacy programs at the community level, identification of effective adult literacy programs, coordination of library programs with other adult education programs, cooperation among public educational agencies and joint planning.
1981. National Coalition for Literacy founded by ALA. Executive Director, Robert Wedgeworth and Peggy Barber work with the Ad Council, and with the American Association of Advertising Agencies, to launch the National Coalition for Literacy with Jean E. Coleman, Director of the Office for Library Outreach Services.
Lynn E. Birge, Serving Adult Learners: A Public Library Tradition (Chicago: ALA).
1983-1990. Adult Services in the Eighties: Project of the RASD Services to Adults Committee.
1986- 1995. Library Literacy Program, Title
VI, LSCA, over $65 million in grants for literacy programs made to public
libraries. 23
1988. Douglas Zweizig, Jane Robbins, Debra Wilcox Johnson, Libraries and Literacy Education (Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.).
1989. ALA Literacy Assembly convenes.
National Partners for Library and Literacy continues work of National Library Week partners working with ALA Public Information Office, coordinated by Peggy Barber.
Bell-Atlantic Family Literacy Project in with ALA Office for Library Outreach Services.
Debra Wilcox Johnson, Libraries as Partners in Adult Literacy (U.S.G.P.O.)
PLA Adult Lifelong Learning Section is new name for Alternative Education Programs Section of PLA. Adds the purpose "to advocate the use of library based self-directed study as well as more traditional learning modes. "
1990. Adult Services: An Enduring Focus for Public Libraries, ed. Kathleen de la Peña McCook and Danny P. Wallace (Chicago: ALA).
Adult Services: A Bibliography
and Index. Kathleen de la Peña
McCook and Harry D. Nuttall.24
1991. White House Conference on Libraries and
Information Services. 25
Deanna B. Marcum and Elizabeth W. Stone, “Literacy: The Library Legacy,” American Libraries 22 (March 1991): 202-205.
Margaret E. Monroe and Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Partners for Learning: Public Libraries and Adult Education (Washington, D.C.: U.S.G.P.O.).
The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) is created by the National Literacy Act of 1991, when a bipartisan Congressional coalition acted on the literacy field’s request for a federal office focused solely on literacy. Senator Paul Simon (Illinois) and Representative Tom Sawyer (Ohio) are co-sponsors.
Early nineties. Family Literacy programs grow in ALA with grants from Bell Atlantic, Viburnum Foundation, Cargill, Inc. Association for Library Service to Children receives Prudential Foundation grant for “Born to Read.”
1995. ALA
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services –OLOS- (formerly Office for Library Outreach
Services) changes name to reflect expanded focus on literacy.26
“Literacy in Libraries Across America” funded within ALA by the Lila-Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund. Includes funds for a Literacy Officer in OLOS.
Literacy
Volunteers of America honor ALA with a Leadership Award for “its profound
influence over and enduring support of the literacy movement.” 27
1996. Gail Spangenberg, Even Anchors Need
Lifelines (Washington, D.C.: Center for the Book in the Library of
Congress). Results of a study supported by ALA, Center for the Book, and Harold
McGraw to refocus attention on the important institutional and service roles
libraries play in literacy.28
Barbara A. Humes,
Public Libraries and Community-Based Education: Making the Connection for
Life-Long Learning, National Institute on Postsecondary Education,
Libraries and Lifelong Learning.29
1998. ALA adopts Literacy as one of five key action areas.
The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) restructures programs previously authorized by the Adult Education Act.
1999. Public Policy Institute, directed by former Illinois Senator, Paul Simon, at Southern Illinois University develops national literacy agenda with focus on the role of libraries. 30
ALA funds full-time Literacy Officer in OLOS.
2000. ALA staff Peggy Barber and Dale Lipschultz participate in the National Literacy Summit sponsored by the National Institute for Literacy.
Leigh S.
Estabrook and Edward Lakner, Literacy Programs in Public Libraries,
Library Research Center, Graduate School of Library and Information Science,
University of Illinois). 31
2001. ALA Standing Committee on Literacy is
established.
Literacy and
Libraries: Learning from Case Studies, ed. GraceAnne A. DeCandido.
(Chicago: ALA, OLOS). 32
The BuildLiteracy.org site
is established to answer questions about adult literacy, libraries, and
coalitions. Site features tips on coalition building, profiles of existing
literacy coalitions, and a menu of literacy coalition activities. 33
***************************************************************************************************
These milestones provide a robust history of librarians working with adult educators and funders to forge alliances that will enhance the lives of new readers. How closely are librarians today connected to the adult education field? Adult education and adult literacy have long been important concerns for the American Library Association. When the Adult Services Division (ASD) and the Reference Services Division (RSD) merged in 1972 to become RASD, the precursor of RUSA, the ASD brought with it a close connection with the adult education movement.34 This connection continued to drive projects and policies in the Divison, but during the seventies and eighties other sectors of ALA developed agendas and programs. Projects and grants in the Office for Library Outreach Services (after 1995 the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services) the Public Information Office and in the Divisions of the ALA have provided a broader association commitment. Because adult education and literacy concerns span the association’s structure it is difficult to approach these activities in librarianship from an organizational perspective even with the timeline. An analysis of the impact of funding on the development of literacy programs delivered through libraries remains a topic for further research.
Government Policies and Programs Affecting Support for Adult Education and Literacy
Librarians working with adult learners are funded from a variety of sources. They may work collaboratively with adult educators, initiate their own programs using local funds, work with funding from grants or through support from federal and state agencies under a variety of laws and programs. Whatever the source of funding, programs for adult learners require that librarians enter into various external partnerships. To be fully informed about directions for adult education and adult literacy requires an understanding of the various philosophies and ideologies of the entities that provide funding.
Federal legislation often follows policy development, but once funded can drive implementation. To the consternation of the historian policy flows through many channels that don’t arrive at the sea together. Thus while literacy programs in libraries continued to be funded through LSCA Title VI until 1995, the National Literacy Act, passed in 1991, changed the structure of literacy support and action in the federal government.
The National Literacy Act created
the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) as a response to the literacy
field's request for a federal office focused solely on literacy. The NIFL serves as a focal point for public
and private activities that support the development of high-quality regional,
state, and national literacy services. Its goal is to ensure that all Americans
with literacy needs have access to services that can help them gain the basic
skills necessary for success in the workplace, family, and community in the
21st century.35 The NIFL has posted the report, The State of
Literacy in America: Estimates at the Local, State, and National Levels 36
on its web page based on data from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey
(NALS) conducted under the auspices of the National Center for Educational
Statistics (NCES) and developed through
interviews with approximately 26,000 individuals.37 A new set of data will be collected in
2002. The National Assessment of Adult
Literacy (NAAL) is a nationally representative and continuing assessment of
English language literacy skills of American adults. It seeks to: describe the status of adult literacy in the
United States; report on national trends; and identify relationships between
literacy and selected characteristics
of adults. Working papers describing planning for the 2002 Assessment are
available for review at the National Assessment of Adult Literacy site.38
The NIFL has also endeavored to provide a single
focal point for adult literacy resources, knowledge, and expertise from across
the nation and the world through LINCS - the Literacy Information and
Communication System, a cooperative distributed electronic network designed to
meet the needs of literacy stakeholders.
LINCS has been developed collaboratively through contributor feedback,
and ongoing partnerships between NIFL and different sectors of the literacy
field.39 Librarians on staff maintain the network.
Another project conducted under the aegis of the
NIFL is Equipped for the Future (EFF)
a 10-year initiative to design an accountable adult literacy system. EFF starts
from the recognition that the skills adults need as parents, workers, and
citizens go beyond the basic academic skills that have traditionally been
targeted by adult education programs. EFF is developing, refining and
validating frameworks for content and performance standards as a primary
vehicle for enabling system reform that lines up instructional practice,
program services, and program accountability so that they all focus on learner
goals and stated purposes: access, voice, independent action, and bridge to the
future. “Content Standards” have been derived from research to clarify the core
knowledge and skills adults need to carry out their roles as family members,
workers, and community members. They
are a starting point for building a system for lifelong learning that will
enable Americans to build skills they need to move themselves, their
communities, and the nation into the 21st century.40
In 1996 the Museum and Library Services Act moved federal library programs to the Institute of Museums and Library Services41 funded by the Library Services and Technology Act. During this same time the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) reformed the nation’s welfare laws with provisions that increased the pressure on states to move people into work or work activities. Education and training are allowable including adult literacy, basic education, and English as a second language. The 1997 Department of Labor Welfare to Work Program made funds available to states for activities to keep people in unsubsidized employment tying adult education and literacy closely to employers.
The 1998 Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, restructured and improved programs previously authorized by the Adult Education Act, the National Literacy Act, and the Job Training Partnership Act. It called for federal, state, and local governments to join in partnership to carry out its mandates which are to assist adults in becoming literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency; to assist parents in obtaining the educational skills necessary to become full partners in their children’s education; and to assist adults in completing high school or the equivalent. Highpoints of the AEFLA are direct and equitable access to apply for local grants (libraries are listed as potential providers); lack of set-asides with an exception for correctional education; state leadership activities such as professional development, maintenance of literacy resources centers, support services; accountability; incentives to states that exceed adjusted performance; and a national emphasis through the National Institute for Literacy and the Department of Education.42 Programs using AEFLA funds often need to meet accountability standards as defined by respective state plans.
The National Literacy Summit was held in February 2000 to develop a vision and action plan to move America ahead in helping all adults and families achieve literacy.43 Participants included librarians, adult learners, teachers/tutors, program administrators, policymakers, researchers, state directors, and representatives from business, organized labor, and the philanthropic sector representing all regions of the country with diverse backgrounds and various levels of expertise in areas such as family literacy, ESOL, learning disabilities, and technology. (The Summit was planned by a steering committee that included: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, National Coalition for Literacy, National Council of State Directors of Adult Education, National Institute for Literacy, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education). The Action Agenda for Literacy formulated at the Summit, From the Margins to the Mainstream, was developed through grassroots consensus building and serves as a blueprint for community action. The summit initiative seeks to improve the nation’s system of adult literacy, language and lifelong learning services through greater attention to adequate resources, increased access, and improved program quality. 44
When direct literacy grants to public libraries through LSCA Title VI were ended in 1995 it became important for librarians to develop new strategies and revitalize partnerships to work with the broader literacy and adult education community. The inclusion of librarians among the invited participants at the Summit underscores the ongoing centrality of our role in adult education and adult literacy initiatives. What yet remains is to formulate response to the changing context of support for literacy. This will be situation specific in many cases, and we have much to learn from discussions taking place in the adult education community.
Most LIS education programs today provide minimal background in the theories and practices of adult education. Thus graduates go forth to work in libraries and find they may be asked to develop partnerships with adult educators or even assume responsibilities as adult educators without a solid grounding in the philosophy and history of adult education. If, as pointed out at the beginning of this article, 90 percent of all public libraries either provide or refer to adult education opportunities, there is a compelling need for stronger educational preparation among LIS students planning careers in public libraries. To provide a readily accessible set of references to source documents, the foregoing sections of this article characterize the commitment of U.S. librarians to adult education and literacy today; summarize the high points of librarians’ involvement with adult education over the last eighty years including bibliographical citations; and identify key current federal government initiatives to support adult education. What remains to be addressed is the socio-economic context of service delivery.
A pilot program supported by LSTA funds in California provides a framework for implementing literacy training that advocates the Equipped for the Future approach supplying literacy trainers with content based on the skills adults need most for everyday living, rather than the textbook-style offerings found in more traditional literacy training. The project also helps trainers measure their success based on outcomes, or how well it meets the needs of the learners, rather than the number of learners served.45 California librarians were well-prepared for this transition in service delivery as the LSTA program built carefully upon the California Literacy Campaign begun in 1984 under then state librarian, Gary Strong, with LSCA funds. The California model demonstrates pro-active librarians working within the structure of the new NIFL initiatives.
In her essay discussing policy issues that drive the transformation of adult literacy Hayes questions whether adult educators’ increased involvement will support a system that is not in the best interests of their students or society since these policies are “ aimed at ending welfare, not ending poverty.” 46 This tension is re-enforced by Sparks who notes:
“The dual ideologies within adult education—one espousing
individual development, the other calling for social investment and action
through education—create tension within the field. The adult education
legislation in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 espouses an
individual-development philosophy, with an emphasis on the social roles of
adults as workers, providers and parents.”47
These are the same ideological questions that confront librarians challenged to develop adult education programs within the structure of the Equipped for the Future content standards under the philosophies of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act or the Workforce Investment Act. However, since the recent generation of librarians, for the most part, has not been exposed to the discussions inherent in the application of differing philosophies it is likely that interior unresolved conflict may arise when adult education or adult literacy programs are envisioned. That is, the Work First environment in which much of adult education funded through federal monies is practiced seems to diverge from the humanistic and democratic traditions of librarianship.49
Adult education in the United States has a long history that begins with the colonial period. For many years librarians worked collaboratively with adult educators to develop lifelong learning and literacy programs. In this new era of changing ideology toward the purpose of lifelong learning, it is more important than ever that public librarians delivering literacy programs and working in partnership with adult education agencies internalize the history and philosophies of this tradition.49 Regardless of the ethical dilemmas posed by implementing adult education and adult literacy programs in the context of “learning for work” versus “learning for life,” the democratic practice model instructs us all to take an ethically pragmatic approach leading us to make decisions based on justice and care. 50
Adult lifelong learning and adult literacy will continue to be important aspects of public library service through direct delivery or referral. However, as Martín Gómez, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Public Library, has observed, “For all of our effort, for all of our achievements, public libraries have not fully exploited their role as literacy-centered institutions…overall the public library community has not risen to the challenge. We have not assumed our share of responsibility for improving literacy levels in this country.”51 Gómez offers suggestions for libraries to assume greater responsibility including the further institutionalization of literacy efforts.
As we await the results of the national 2002 assessment of literacy the library profession is well positioned to assume a stronger role in the provision of adult education and adult literacy. A review of librarianship’s historical commitment, enhanced development of national partnerships such as the National Coalition for Literacy, present involvement in local literacy initiatives and collaborations, and structuring of association response through entities such as the ALA Council Committee on Literacy and the Literacy Assembly provide the framework for progress. If librarians come to assume a stronger role understanding the philosophies of adult education and the broader commitment to “learning for life” we will help to achieve the goal of a learning society for the residents of the United States.
1From the Margins to the Mainstream: An Action Agenda for Literacy. The National Literacy Summit 2000 Steering Committee (n.p. 2000), p. 1. Also available at http://novel.nifl.gov/nifl/summit.html accessed July 6, 2001.
2 Literacy Skills for 21st Century America: A Foundation for Creating a More Literate Nation. February 2000. http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/policy/summit/foundation_paper.doc accessed July 6, 2001.
3 Leigh S. Estabrook and Edward
Lakner, Literacy Programs in Public Libraries, survey prepared for the
Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, Library Research Center, Graduate School of
Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, 2000). Funded by the
Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund. Yet these
numbers represent a very small number when compared to those in adults
education programs overall. From 1975 through 1999 the number of adults
enrolled in the diverse programs funded wholly or in part through the federal
government's Division of Adult Education and Literacy increased at an average
rate of some 118,000 per year, growing from around 1.2 million in 1975 to over
4.3 million in 1999. Thomas G. Sticht, The Adult Education and Literacy
System in the United States: Moving from the Margins to the Mainstream.
February 2, 2000. Accessed http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/sticht/aelsinus/cover.htm
July 6, 2001.
4 Literacy and Libraries: Learning From Case Studies, ed. GraceAnne DeCandido (Chicago: American Library Association, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, 2001).
5 American Library Association. 21st Century Literacy at Your Library. alaAction No.1 in a series. June 1, 2001. http://www.ala.org/work/literacy.html Accessed July 6, 2001. Includes a summary of ALA actions related to literacy including “Born To Read”, the National Information Literacy Institute, “Roads to Learning,” inter alia.
6 American Library Association. Education and Continuous Learning alaAction. No.3 in a series. Accessed http://www.ala.org/work/educationbrochure.html July 6, 2001.
Sample programs include "Let's Talk About It" which has attracted more than four million Americans to local libraries for thematic discussion series based on books since it was launched in 1983. The series has been re-launched in 1999 to a new generation of readers, writers and librarians. Other discussion series include "Lives Worth Knowing" and "National Connections." The latter uses children's literature to offer adult literacy students an opportunity to discuss timeless themes and to make connections, sometimes for the first time, between books and their own lives. "StoryLines America: A Radio/Library Partnership Exploring Our Regional Literature" explores regional literature through a partnership between libraries, regional scholars and National Public Radio (NPR) stations. Traveling exhibitions such as "The Many Realms of King Arthur" provide opportunities for local tie-in programs including lectures, film series, book discussions, concerts, displays and activities for children and adults "LIVE at the Library," which focuses on helping librarians develop and support cultural programs in their library, including author readings, writing workshops, book discussions and performances. Begun in 1992, this project has attracted more than 40,000 people to literary events at small and mid-sized public libraries throughout the Midwest and is now expanding nationally. See also American Library Association. Public Programs Office. Linking Community and Culture @ Your Library. Accessed http://www.ala.org/publicprograms/index.html
July 6, 2001.
7 Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Using Ockham’s Razor: Cutting to the Center. Congress on Professional Education, American Library Association, May, 1999. Accessed http://www.ala.org/congress/mccook.html July 6, 2001.
8Dale Lipschulz, “ALA and Literacy Education: Working to Meet Demand,” American Libraries 31 (June/July 2000): 71.
9 Sondra Cuban and Elisabeth Hayes, “Perspectives of Five Library and Information Studies Students Involved in Service learning at a Community-Based Literacy Program,” Journal of Library and Information Science Education 42 (Spring 2001): 86-95.
10 Timothy W. Sineath, “Faculty-Table I-23 Earned Doctorates Outside Library and Information Sciences Held by 196 Full-Time Faculty January 1, 2000” in Library and Information Science Education Statistical Report 2000 and Database, ed. By Evelyn H. Daniel and Jerry D. Saye. Association for Library and Information Science Education. Accessed http://ils.unc.edu/ALISE/2000/Faculty/Table1-23.htm
July 6, 2001.
11 Peggy Barber, “The American Library Association’s Literacy Initiatives,” in Literacy and Libraries: Learning from Case Studies, ed. GraceAnn DeCandido (Chicago: American Library Association, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, 2001), p. 158.
12 Vanessa Sheared, Jennifer McCabe, Donna Umeki, “Adult Literacy and Welfare Reform,” Education and Urban Society 32 (February 2000): 167-187.
13 National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. Harvard Graduate School of Education. Accessed http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ncsall/research/index.html
July 6, 2001.
14 Amy D. Rose, “Beyond the Classroom Walls: The Carnegie Corporation and the Founding of the American Association for Adult Education,” Adult Education Quarterly 39 (Spring 19890: 140-151.
15 Malcolm S. Knowles, History of the Adult Education Movement in the United States. Rev.ed. (Huntington, N.Y.: R.E.Krieger Pub.Co., 1977; reprint of the ed. Published by Holt, Rhinehart and Winston), p. 115.
16Margaret E. Monroe. Library Adult Education: The Biography of an Idea (New York: Scarecrow Press, 1963), p. 6.
17 The following works provided
information for the chronology of national milestones documenting the relationship
of libraries and adult education and adult literacy. All are recommend reading
for essential background in the history of libraries and adult education and
adult literacy.
Adult Services: An Enduring Focus for Public Libraries, ed. Kathleen M. Heim and Danny P. Wallace (Chicago: American Library Association, 1990.)
Lester Asheim, Training Needs of Librarians Doing Adult Education Work. (Chicago: ALA, 1955).
Peggy Barber, “Computers, Technology, Books, Yes—But Literacy Must Come First.” American Libraries 28 (May 1997): 42-43.
Peggy Barber, “The American Library Association’s Literacy Initiatives,” in Literacy and Libraries: Learning from Case Studies, ed. GraceAnn DeCandido (Chicago, American Library Association, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, 2001), pp. 154-158.
Lynn E. Birge, Serving Adult Learners: A Public Library Tradition (Chicago: American Library Association, 1981).
Elizabeth J. Burge, Adult Learners, Learning and Public Libraries. Library Trends 31 (Spring 1983).
Jean Ellen Coleman, “Libraries, Learning and Literacy: A Tradition of Involvement,” Public Libraries 23 (Winter 1984): 108-9.
Cyril O. Houle, “Seven Adult Educational Roles of the Public Library,” in As Much to Learn as to Teach: Essays in Honor of Lester Asheim, ed. Joel M. Lee and Beth A. Hamilton (Hamden, Conn: Linnet, 1979).
Alvin Johnson, The Public Library—A People’s University (New York: American Association for Adult Education, 1938).
Debra Wilcox Johnson, Libraries as Partners in Adult Literacy (Washington, D.C.: U.S.G.P.O., 1989).
Robert Ellis Lee, Continuing Education for Adults through the American Public Library 1833-1966 (Chicago: American Library Association, 1966).
Helen H. Lyman, Adult Education Activities in Public Libraries (as Helen Lyman Smith) (Chicago: ALA, 1954).
Helen H. Lyman, Library Materials in Service to the Adult New Reader (Chicago: ALA, 1973).
Helen H. Lyman, Reading and the Adult New Reader (Chicago: ALA, 1976).
Helen H. Lyman, Literacy and the Nation’s Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1977).
Kathleen de la Peña McCook (as Kathleen M. Heim), "Adult Services as Reflective of the Changing Role of the Public Library." RQ 26 (Winter 1986) 180-187.
Kathleen de la Peña McCook (as Kathleen M. Heim), Adult
Services in the Eighties: Final
Report Submitted to the RASD Adult Services Committee, March 1990. ERIC ED 316 264.
Kathleen de la Peña McCook (as Kathleen M. Heim), “An Overview of the Adult Services in the Eighties Project,” (pp.1-10) and “Adult Services: An Enduring Focus” (pp.11-26) in Adult Services ed. By Heim and Wallace (1990).
Kathleen de la Peña McCook “Where Would We Be Without Them? Libraries and Adult Education Activities: 1966-1971” RQ 32 (Winter 1992): 245-253.
Kathleen de la Peña McCook and Paula Geist. Toward a Just
and Productive Society: An
Analysis of the Recommendations of the White House
Conference on Library and
Information Services. (Washington, D.C., National Commission of Libraries and
Information Science, 1994).
Kathleen de la Peña McCook and Harry D. Nuttall. Adult Services: A Bibliography and Index. 1990. ERIC 320 609.
Bernice McDonald, Literacy Activities and Public Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1964).
Margaret E. Monroe,“The Evolution of Literacy Programs in the Context of the Library,” Library Trends 35 (Fall 1986).
Margaret E. Monroe and Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Partners for Learning: Public Libraries and Adult Education (Washington, D.C.: U.S.G.P.O., 1991).
Gary O. Rolstad, “Literacy Services in Public Libraries” (pp. 245-265) in Adult Services ed.by Heim and Wallace, 1990.
Ester Gottlieb Smith, Libraries in Literacy v.1 (Washington, D.C. U.S. D.O.E., Office of Library and Learning Technologies, 1981).
Carole Talan, Founding and Funding Family Literacy Programs (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1999).
Connie Van Fleet, “Lifelong Learning Theory and the Provision of Adult Services,” (pp. 166-211) in Adult Services ed. By Heim and Wallace, 1990.
Connie Van Fleet and Douglas Raber, “The Public Library as a Social/Cultural Institution: Alternative Perspectives and Changing Contexts (pp. 456- 500) in Adult Services ed. By Heim and Wallace, 1990).
Danny P. Wallace, “The Character of Adult Services in the Eighties,” (pp. 27-165.) in
Adult Services ed. By Heim and Wallace, 1990.
Ruth Warncke, Library-Community Project Report, 1955-1960 (Chicago: ALA, prepared for the Fund for Adult Education, 1960).
Ruth Warncke, Analyzing Your Community: Basis for Building Library Service. ERIC ED 105881. 1974.
Douglas Zweizig, Jane Robbins, Debra Wilcox Johnson, Libraries and Literacy Education (Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O, 1988).
18 William S. Learned, The American Public Library and the Diffusion of Knowledge (New York: Harcourt, 1924).
19 American Library Association, Commission on the Library and Adult Education, Libraries and Adult Education (Chicago: American Library Association, 1926).
20 For additional background on the Adult Education Board meetings and minutes through its history see archives of the American Library Association under Reference and User Services Association. 30/0/0. Accessed http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ahx/ala/alacard.asp?RG=30&SG=0&RS=0 July 6, 2001.
21 “Library Rights of Adults: A Call to Action,” ASD Newsletter 8 (Fall, 1970): 2-3.
22 Andrew Hansen, “ RASD: A Backward Look into the Future.” RQ 25 (Fall 1985): 13-18.
23 The Library Literacy Program (LSCA Title VI) was funded from 1986-1995. For 1986 the report is titled, Library Literacy Program: Abstracts of Funded Projects, 1986. For 1987-1993 the report is called Library Literacy Program: Analysis of Funded Projects. These reports were issued as serials the year after the cover date by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. From 1989-1993 Barbara Humes and Carol Cameron Lyons are authors. For 1994 and 1995 reports were not published as separate titles but included in the Bowker Annual due to the reauthorization of LSCA as LSTA. For 1994 see The Bowker Annual, 1995, pp. 312-326; for 1995 see The Bowker Annual, 1996, pp. 317-331. (ack. Ellen Sweet, Government Documents Librarian, National Library of Education, tracked the chronology of these reports, June 29, 2001 after much help from government documents librarians at the University of Florida, Mary Gay Anderson and Paige Harper).
24 Kathleen de la Peña McCook and Harry D. Nuttall. Adult Services: A Bibliography and Index. 1990. ERIC 320 609.
25 Information 2000.
Library and Information Services for the 21st Century. Summary Report of the
White House Conference on Library and Information Services (2nd,
Washington, D.C., July 9-13, 1991).
26 Kate Lippincott, Kathleen de la Peña McCook, and Sara M. Taffae, 25 Years of Outreach: A Bibliographic Time Line of the American Library Association, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services,” 1996. ERIC ED 396 755.
27 Barber, p. 157.
28Gail Spangenberg, Even Anchors Need Lifelines. (Washington, D.C. Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, 1996).
29Barbara A. Humes, Public Libraries and Community-Based Education: Making the Connection for Lifelong Learning. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries and Lifelong Learning, 1996).
30Public Policy Institute. “National Leaders in Literacy Effort Map Agenda to Assure all Americans Possess Basic Skills for Good Jobs.” Accessed
http://www.siu.edu/~ppi/Publications/largescreen/larpress/press-literacy.html July 6, 2001.
31 Estabrook and Lakner.
32 DeCandido.
33BuildLiteracy.org developed by ALA and the National Alliance of Urban Literacy Councils in partnership with the National Institute for Literacy. Administered by ALA OLOS. Accessed http://www.buildliteracy.org/index.htm July 6, 2001.
34Kathleen de la Peña McCook, “Adult Services within the American Library Association: A Historical Examination of the Move to Synthesis.” RQ 30 (Spring 1991): 386- 394.
35 National Institute for Literacy. Accessed http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/about_nifl.html July 6, 2001.
36 Stephen Reder, The State of Literacy in America: Estimates at the Local, State, and National Levels. Accessed http://www.nifl.gov/reders/reder.htm July 6, 2001.
37 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Accessed http://nces.ed.gov/naal/resources/resources.asp July 6, 2001.
38 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Accessed http://nces.ed.gov/naal/resources/publications.asp July 6, 2001.
38National LINCS. “About LINCS” Accessed http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/about/about.html
July 6, 2001.
39National LINCS. “About Equipped for the Future.” Accessed http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/eff/about_eff.html July 6, 2001.
40 Sondra Stein, Equipped for the Future: National Content Standards: What Adults Need to Know and Be Able to Do in the 21st Century. Accessed http://novel.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/eff/standards_guide.pdf July 6, 2001.
41Institute of Museum and Library Services. Accessed http://www.imls.gov/about/index.htm July 6, 2001.
42Fran Tracy-Mumford, “The Year 1998 in Review,” The Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, a project of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 2000), pp. 3-7.
43 National Literacy Summit 2000. Accessed http://novel.nifl.gov/nifl/summit.html July 6, 2001.
44From the Margins to the Mainstream: An Action Agenda for Literacy.
45 “Teaching a Nation to Read: Literacy at the Library.” Institute of Museum and Library Services. Accessed http://www.imls.gov/closer/archive/hlt_l0401.htm July 6, 2001.
46Elisabeth Hayes, “Policy Issues That Drive the Transformation of Adult Literacy,” in The Welfare-to-Work Challenge for Adult Literacy Educators, ed. Larry G. Martin and James C. Fisher. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. No. 83, fall 1999), p. 12.
47Barbara Sparks, “Critical Issues and Dilemmas for Adult Literacy Programs Under Welfare Reform,” in The Welfare-to-Work Challenge for Adult Literacy Educators, ed. Larry G. Martin and James C. Fisher. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. No. 83, fall 1999),p. 19.
48 Kathleen de la Peña McCook, “Poverty, Democracy, and Public Libraries,” in Libraries & Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty, ed. Nancy Kranich (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2001), pp. 40-41.
49 The intellectual and social justice challenges presented by Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed); Myles Horton of the Highlander School (see John M. Glen, Highlander: No Ordinary School, 2nd ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996); the work of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), Accessed http://www.aaace.org/ July 6, 2001; as well as other materials reviewed for this essay demonstrate that study and research focusing on libraries and adult education has a rich potential for new models for librarians.
50 Sparks, pp. 25-26, quoting D. D’Amico, Adult Education and Welfare to Work Initiatives (Teaneck, N.J.: National Institute for Literacy, 1997) and R. Cervero and A. Wilson Planning Responsibility for Adult Education: A Guide to Negotiating Power and Interests (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994).
51Martín Gómez, “Public Library Literacy programs: A Blueprint for the Future,” in Literacy and Libraries: Learning from Case Studies, ed. GraceAnn DeCandido (Chicago, American Library Association, Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, 2001), p. 150.
Authors:
Kathleen de la Peña McCook is professor at the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida, Tampa and has an ongoing forum for the discussion of libraries and community building, A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/a-librarian-at-every-table/.
home page: http://nosferatu.cas.usf.edu/lis/faculty/mccook.html
Peggy Barber is a partner in Library Communication Strategies, Inc. Formerly she was associate executive director, for communications at the American Library Association. http://www.librarycomm.com