"Only Half of Adults Can Read with Ease"
Did this headline catch your attention because you were stunned at such a low literacy rate? Or perhaps you work in the field of literacy and you questioned the data. I am no expert, but I am aware that literacy levels in the United States are not where we would like them to be. When I read headline I was shocked, but probably not for the same reason that you are. You see, the headline is from a 1936 edition of the New York Times. I realized that literacy has been a challenge in the US for decades, but reading the article also provided a delightful surprise. Librarians and public libraries were in the forefront of literacy monitoring and service as far back as the 1930s. I also noted that the California library system of 1936 and its delivery capacities helped promote reading. In Rhode Island today, our public libraries are hard at work offering literacy programs and the OLIS-LORI statewide delivery system plays an important role in getting reading materials into the hands of residents statewide. The challenges of literacy continue and we join together to surmount them! Original article Only Half of Adults Can Read with Ease, © New York Times, August 9, 1936.