Towards a literate Australia: the role of public libraries in supporting reading.

The ability to function effectively in today's information society requires a high degree of literacy and a complexity of skills which is leaving some people behind. Yet in Australia one in five adults do not possess sufficient literacy skills to participate in everyday life. This causes problems for living, working and for survival. The resources, networks and advocacy potential of public libraries make them natural allies of the literacy movement. The Australian Library and Information Association in its 'Statement on libraries and literacy' not only endorses the role of public libraries in supporting literacy but sees it as a core function. It is now an opportune time to re examine that role and develop strategies for its future. The United Nation's Decade of literacy (2003-2012) presents a golden opportunity for public libraries to reassert their traditional role of supporting literacy as part of the lifelong learning agenda. Edited version of a paper presented at the Alia 2004 biennial conference Gold Coast Queensland

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Supporting literacy is one of the foundation stones of the public library movement, and one that was seen as a key role for many years. This role has, to some extent, diminished in recent decades until the current resurgence of interest worldwide.

The age in which we are living is characterised by the developments that have taken place in technology and, in particular, information and communication technologies. The convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting and computers has had a significant impact upon society, comparable with previous major societal changes such as the industrial revolution or the advent of the printing press.

The result of the latest revolution is unprecedented globalisation, the impact of which is so great that sociologists and anthropologists are now redefining out notions of community, as the geographical definition becomes decreasingly relevant. The net result of the societal changes brought about by this quiet revolution is that inequality in society is growing, within nations and between individuals.

As with the advent of the printing press, the technological age requires the development of higher levels of skills in all echelons of society. The ability to function effectively in the information society requires a high degree of literacy, information literacy and a complexity of skills which is leaving some people behind. In fact there are deeper issues. Bonna Jones, in defending the need for the ability to construct and understand narrative in order to contribute to and function within society, maintains that reading 'plays a central part in our capacity to construct new narratives. Moreover she contends that it is 'central to librarianship'. (1)

Unesco's Decade of literacy (2003-2012) presents a golden opportunity for public libraries to reassert their role in supporting literacy as part of the lifelong learning agenda.

The United Nations' Decade of literacy

We are operating within the Decade of literacy which, under the umbrella concept of Education for all, runs from 2003--2012. The resolution for the proclamation that this decade is devoted to literacy was adopted in 1999 at the UN General Assembly. The aim is not only to highlight the existing problems relating to literacy, but also to 'extend the use of literacy to those who do not have access to it'. (2) Its ultimate goal is to increase literacy rates worldwide by 50 per cent by 2015.

The rationale behind establishing the decade includes some of the following

* the numbers of people worldwide who are unable to communicate through literacy (861 million people, two thirds of whom are women)

* the contribution of inequity of literacy to the deprivation and subordination of women

* literacy is basic human right, declared as such for its pivotal role in basic education, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 50 years ago

* the belief that both national and international literacy efforts have, up to now, proved inadequate

* the international community deems that the promotion of literacy is beneficial to all

In The international plan of action six areas of activity are identified

* national policies which provide a framework which includes multilingual approaches and freedom of expression, and link literacy strategies with other social concerns

* flexible programs which include flexible modes of delivery and well trained facilitators using interesting materials that reflect racial, gender and language differences

* capacity building, including issues such as management and planning, curriculum design, research and documentation

* research into the impact of literacy and ways to achieve literacy (evidence based practice)

* community participation

* monitoring and evaluation in the form of better literacy standards

Definition of literacy

Literacy has been defined and redefined over the last few decades. The International adult literacy survey (Ials) defines it thus

   The ability to understand and employ printed
   information in daily activities, at home, at work and in
   the community--to achieve one's goals and to develop
   one's knowledge and potential. (3)

Three domains of literacy skills were also identified as

   Prose literacy the skills to understand and use
   information from texts

   Document literacy the ability to locate and use
   information in a variety of formats

   Quantitative literacy the ability to apply arithmetic
   operations and to understand numbers embedded in
   printed materials (4)

Current thinking is that there are varying levels of literacy and that literate and illiterate are not two distinct categories. (5) The Ials stresses that literacy is no longer thought of as 'a condition that either adults have or have not, (6) and that literacy should no longer be defined as some arbitrary test which separates those who reach a minimum standard from those who fall below it. It is now considered to be a set of proficiency levels ranged along a continuum representing how well adults use information to function in everyday life. Literacy is also dynamic. (7) Every individual will vary at different stages according to circumstance and skills acquisition.

Why literacy is an important issue

The ability to function effectively in an information society requires high literacy proficiency and a wide range of skills

   ... the movement towards an information based society
   are factors which suggest, as never before, that literacy
   is an essential instrument for effective participation in
   society (8)

This overriding importance of literacy acquisition is endorsed by the Ials, a large scale collaborative venture undertaken by national statistical organisations, research institutions and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The report's definition of adult literacy includes a statement which goes some way to explaining why

   Differences in levels of literacy matter both
   economically and socially: literacy affects, inter alia,
   labour quality and flexibility, employment, training
   opportunities, income from work and wider
   participation in civic society (9)

Many people, however, are being left behind. The Ials results found that, across 20 countries, one in four adults who participated in the study do not possess the literacy skills to manage in today's world. It would be a reasonable assumption that the study took place in poorer or less developed countries, but this is not so. The sample included the US, Canada, four Scandinavian countries, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. In confirmation of this statistic Hartman, Draeger and Bernstein (10) reported that at least 20 per cent of US adults were functionally illiterate. Between 40 and 45 million people in the US are unable to understand written materials requiring the most basic reading skills. (11)

It is difficult to think that this applies to Australia, yet the above survey found that one in five Australian adults do not possess sufficient literacy to participate in everyday life.

Lack of literacy on this scale causes problems for living, working and survival in almost every area of life. Using automatic teller machines, the internet, email, filling in taxation forms or understanding supermarket checkout procedures are just some of the day to day tasks that require people to apply literacy and numeracy in diverse ways.

Literacy is important for employment. The Ials demonstrates close correlation between employment status, earning capacity and literacy levels. Higher literacy levels are shown to contribute to increased wealth, individually and collectively. 'A 2% increase in national productivity, through increased literacy could provide a 1.8% increase in revenue.' (12)

Smith (13) identifies that there is already a gap between the skills of workers and the literacy demands of the workplace. Others maintain that this gap will grow wider over the next two decades. Mikulecky (14) predicts that an expansion of multiple literacies will be required to navigate higher levels of information presented in a mix of three dimensional and print visuals. The worker of the future will need to acquire ever growing literacy to communicate simultaneously across several different work communities. Throughout the literature there are examples of the need. Hull (15) cites a US case study where workers in an electronics factory nearly caused a major and costly mistake because they failed to understand written instructions.

Changes in healthcare also exemplify the need for literacy. Fisher (16) argues that the pressures on the medical profession mean shorter stays in hospital and patients being discharged earlier. This requires that patients assume more responsibility for complex procedures and treatments. Increasingly, this information is available electronically. To make informed decisions patients must have the skills to understand demanding information.

US initiatives

The Decade of literacy has also had a big impact in the US. It was, in fact, launched in 2003 in the New York Public Library. The resources, networks and advocacy potential of public libraries make them natural allies of the literacy movement.

Wedgeworth (17) maintains that there are many programs around the world that promote and encourage literacy among children but, interestingly, there are few for adults. There is now an increasing international hybrid movement that concentrates on family literacy, or fostering a culture of reading and literacy within the home. Family literacy is seen as an important concept in the US, with comprehensive schemes supported at federal, state and local level. The American Library Association (ALA) wholeheartedly supports family literacy projects

   Through family literacy programs, the home becomes
   an environment where young minds can grow to their
   fullest potential, and where parents can play active
   roles in their children's intellectual development (18)

The ALA also coordinates two family literacy programs: the Bell Atlantic--American Library Association family literacy projects and the Cargill cares program. The Bell Atlantic Foundation has provided more than $1m since 1989 to sponsor a variety of projects, including those at Baltimore Pratt Free Library, the District of Columbia Public Library and Marion County Library, Fairmont. Cargill, a Minneapolis based agricultural company has also joined forces with the ALA to sponsor schemes in Hutchinson, Kansas, and Molokai in Hawaii. The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress also boasts involvement in and support for family literacy. One example of its interest is the Vibernum family literacy Project which promotes the 'planning, training and promotion of family literacy projects' among libraries and their community partners.

In New York, a year before the official launch of the Decade of literacy, Proliteracy worldwide was established under the presidency of Robert Wedgeworth, formerly a library educator at Rutgers University. This movement brought together two of the word's largest volunteer literacy organisations, with the aim of empowering adults by providing programs and materials to help them achieve adequate literacy. (19) The organisation claims to have 1200 affiliates, with partners in 27 countries. (20) In his workshop at the Ifla 2003 conference, Wedgeworth (20) remarked that he would like to make more formal links with organisations in Australia.

UK initiatives

The UK government and other interested parties are well down the track of fulfilling some of the goals set out by the Decade of literacy, which is supported at the highest level by the government.

Many of the policies advocated by Unesco are already in place under the aegis of the government's Framework for the future, published through the Department of Culture Media and Sport in February 2003. This sets out the government's mission of

   focusing on areas where intervention provides lasting
   benefit to society, and longterm strategies for public
   libraries. Within the listed themes, three in particular
   cover the issues of literacy: books, reading and
   learning; digital citizenship; and community values. (21)

Several of the objectives make explicit the role of public libraries in the development of literacy within the community. A direct example of this is strategic objective 5 in which promoting 'literacy skills and an appetite for reading and learning' is advocated. Slightly more indirect is strategic objective 6 in which library professionals are exhorted to 'widen participation and demonstrate the strategic impact of libraries on supporting learning'. (22)

This is not just ethereal policy. There is an infrastructure which is able to facilitate its implementation, re:Source, now the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, for example developed a detailed plan for carrying out the strategies for supporting literacy for children and adults, and for identifying stakeholders who would be involved in any implementation. Among the actions and deliverables outlined for public library support for adult literacy initiatives are

* improving quality of stock by developing a [centrally produced, nationally available] toolkit and training package [for libraries]

* developing and implementing reading partnership strategies

* embedding national strategies and policies for collaborative practice eg working with the Learning Skills Council

* implementing best practice models

The movement has spawned many initiatives in the UK. One of those is an ambitious, and so far successful, scheme worthy of note. The Vital link project is a 'reader development and basic skills initiative', seed funded by the DCMS / Wolfston public libraries challenge fund in 2001. Nine public library authorities formed a consortium managed by a number of British agencies: The National Literacy Trust; the National Reading Campaign; the Reading Agency and two independents. (23) The overall aim of the project was to link literacy and libraries and the six objectives include

* establishing a major partnership program, harnessing libraries' reader development work to support improvement of literacy skills

* establishing effective links between libraries and the adult basic education sector

* researching and developing replicable local models

* providing a range of support strategies

The Australian perspective Bundy (24) highlighted the importance of work to link libraries and literacy in an item in incite in 1999. In this he referred to the first national survey on adult literacy in Australia No single measure, and noted a flurry of activity in public libraries the following year.

In 2001 the Australian Council for Adult Literacy published its position paper on adult literacy and numeracy. (24) Some of the key elements of its policy agenda are

* developing a new national, comprehensive adult literacy policy

* establishing a national coordinating agency

* holding a national literacy summit

What is concerning is, whilst part of that agenda is to 'embed literacy in an overall framework, implementing a collaborative and consultative process ... involving key stakeholders', libraries receive no mention.

This does not mean that there is no activity in libraries, but it tends to be piecemeal. Reading programs and promotion in Australia has, until recently, been the province of individual libraries and schools, with much of the national impetus through the Australia Council and the booktrade. It is interesting that one of the largest initiatives in promoting reading in Australia, the Books alive campaign is part of a $240 million package, the Book industry assistance plan (Biap), funded and coordinated by the Australia Council, the arts funding and advisory body of the federal government. Part of this plan is to support the book industry in Australia by offering textbook subsidies to primary schools and grants to primary school libraries, but the Books alive segment is a four year campaign concentrating on reading for pleasure, and aiming to 'promote the intrinsic value of books, reading and literacy (particularly for children) and the books of Australian writers'. (25)

The objectives of the campaign accord with the principles of good library provision in

* encouraging participation in, appreciation of, and enjoyment of reading

* developing readers among nontraditional readers

* promoting the value of literacy, particularly to children and young people

* promoting Australian writers and writing

The campaign's reference group comprises representatives from a number of parties: publishing, bookselling, the government, schools, authors. It also includes librarians, so it does have a link with libraries.

One of the most valuable outputs of the campaign was the results from two important surveys of reading in Australia, used as a starting point for the project. The first of these, A national survey of reading, buying and borrowing books for pleasure (26) was an extensive survey of reading among all ages, covering everything from reading behaviour, attitudes to reading, reading as a leisure activity to patterns of book acquisition and purchasing, trends in book buying and borrowing, library usage and influences on book selection. Some of the findings of the survey are both interesting and informative for providers of library services. For example

* 78 per cent of the Australian population reads for pleasure

* the most avid readers are tertiary educated females over 65 years of age

* nonreaders are largely males under 30, not highly educated, and living in rural areas (27)

The survey also found that

* the biggest influence on whether children become enthusiastic readers is the attitudes of the parents

* the dominant influence on selection of reading material is word of mouth, followed by the blurb on book covers

* the two most common means of acquiring books is purchasing and borrowing from the library (both scoring 20 per cent of the surveyed population)

* 58 per cent of the sample population said that they would like to spend more time reading

The second influential piece of research was initiated by the Australia Council and the Australian Centre for Youth Literature (ACYL) a section of the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne. (28) To underline the perceived importance of Young Australian's reading study in Australia, it is worth noting that additional support was given to the project by the Australian Publishers' Association, the School Library Association of Australia, the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English and Victoria University of Technology. (29) The research focused on 10-18 year olds and was designed to 'generate a comprehensive understanding of young people's current reading behaviour and their attitudes towards reading and related issues'.

It was envisaged that the findings, based on evidence collected between June and September 2000, would be used to 'inform a national media and promotional campaign which would aim to change attitudes towards ... reading and highlight ... literature ... for young people'.

It was also predicted that the findings would be used by stakeholders such as libraries, publishers and other agencies to inform reading programs and promotions Again, the findings are interesting, although many of the findings bear out what has been discovered in previous studies of teenage reading: that girls read more than boys and that teenagers are not an homogenous group.

The role of public libraries

   Embracing a culture of literacy as the core mission of
   libraries ... could have a liberating effect across the
   spectrum (30)

In some ways it seems superfluous to outline the importance of libraries in the adult literacy movement, although this decade of literacy does provide the impetus to stop and reexamine what is being done in this age of technology, with its great emphasis on information literacy.

Wedgeworth described public libraries as natural allies of the literacy movement. In his address at the 2003 Ifla conference he provided extremely good arguments as to why the public library movement should revisit its role in supporting literacy and literacy initiatives. He began his paper by quoting Pierce Butler (1933) who argued that the transmission of culture was 'perhaps the most important obligation of one generation to another'. Wedgeworth further contends that the transmission of culture requires communication and the one essential for effective communication is literacy.

Libraries, museums and archives are the repositories of the artefacts of culture, and have an important and central role in facilitating access to the information and knowledge inherent in those artefacts--ergo, libraries have a vested interest in fostering literacy. It is not enough to be just custodians and to be passive about facilitating access. This is widely acknowledged by the professionals engaged in the three fields. Hence the current debate about promoting and teaching information literacy, digitising collections and linking information seekers with relevant content. It is not such a leap, therefore, to promote the idea that library professionals have 'a common purpose [in] ... the obligation to promote a culture of literacy'. (31)

Libraries, with their networks, geographical distribution, facilities, collections and professionalism 'would bring an impressive net worth to the development of a culture of literacy'. (32) Support for adult literacy initiatives draw on the traditional resources provided by libraries.

There is much that can be, and is being, done at local and regional levels in Australia. However it is timely for a national drive to establish policies and infrastructure, with leadership from the national and state libraries supported by the professional body, which would formalise and facilitate reading development. The importance of policies, strategies and infrastructures, developed and facilitated by national bodies has already been highlighted. Partnerships such as those suggested by the UK Council of Museums, Archives and Libraries and links with educational and other institutions at local level could be fostered in Australia. Perhaps joint projects could be established between Alia and the Australian Council for Adult Literacy. State libraries could link with Proliteracy worldwide.

The Vital link project's five year vision provides pointers to strategies that could be employed in Australian public libraries. This vision advocates

* all public library authorities in partnership with basic skills providers

* awareness training in libraries' distinctive role in supporting emerging readers

* recognition, at government level, of that distinctive role

* understanding and involvement by publishers (33)

A fitting end for this paper is Wedgeworth's outline of five things that all libraries can do in the short term

* reassert the public library role as an educational and cultural institution

* emphasis that role in library education

* advocate the culture of literacy as a core value

* contribute library materials, facilities and staffing

* host meetings of related educational and social organisations (34)

Conclusion

Much of the literature on literacy reinforces the increased need for individuals to acquire literacy as technological developments proceed. Think, for example, of the work that is now going into the digitisation of collections and the tools to access them. Unless we are to disenfranchise large sections of society, then we need to keep a weather eye out for opportunities to support basic literacy as well as the more fashionable and sexy preoccupations such as knowledge management and information literacy.

   The advent of the decade of literacy presents a major
   opportunity for public libraries to reassert their
   educational role, especially for adults. With an
   estimated 900 million adults in the world who are
   illiterate and a substantial number of others who lack
   adequate literacy skills to cope with the demands of
   the digital society, the need for libraries to promote
   and advance a culture of literacy has never been
   greater. (35)

Alia, in its Statement on libraries and literacy, not only endorses the role of public libraries in the supporting literacy but sees it as a core function. It is now an opportune time in Australia for all librarians, led by the principal libraries and professional bodies, to re examine that role and develop strategies for its future. The reports emerging from the Books alive campaign offer valuable insight into the reading behaviour of Australians and in doing this provide a platform on which to build.

Let this Decade of literacy be a time to reflect on what is a traditional and core function of libraries, and to re examine this role and what it means in today's society.

References

(1) Jones B Reading: defending a vital operation in a time of narrative forces Australian library journal 2003 http://alia.org.au/publishing/alj/52.4/full.text/jones.html accessed 10 May 2004

(2) What is the United Nations Literacy decade?2002 http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.phpURL_ID=27158&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&... accessed 13 September 26-04

(3) OECD Skills lag for many adults in rich nations Reading today 18(1) 2000 p1, 7

(4) Acal A literate Australia: national position paper on the future of adult literacy and numeracy needs of Australia Canberra, Australian Council for Adult Literacy 2001

(5) Bundy A 21st century literacy...still no measure inCite 5 1999 http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/incite/1999/05/literacy.html accessed 13 September 2004

(6) OECD op cit 

(7) Eyre G Back to basics: the role of reading in preparing young people for the information society Reference services review 31(3) 2003 pp219-226

(8) Alia Statement on libraries and literacy 1996 http://www.alia.org.au/policies/library.literacy.html accessed 13 September 2004

(9) OECD op cit

(10) Hartman R, Draeger J, Bernstein M Patient literacy training: new challenge for patient education Patient education and counselling 17 1991 pp42-152

(11) Fisher E Low literacy levels in adults: implications for patients education Journal of continuing education in nursing 30(2) 1999 p57

(12) Acal op cit

(13) Smith C What will be the demands on literacy in the next millennium? Reading research quarterly 35(3) 2000 pp378-9

(14) Mikulecky L What will be the demands on literacy in the next millennium? Reading research quarterly 35(3) 2000 pp380

(15) Hull G Literacy and labelling Journal of adolescent and adult literacy 42(7) 1999 pp540-4

(16) Fisher op cit

(17) Wedgeworth R The literacy challenge World Library and Information Congress: 69th General council and general conference: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions lfla Berlin 1-9 August 2003: public libraries workshop 2003

(18) American Library Association Family literacy--helping parents help their children 2002 http://www.ala.org/pio/factsheets/familyliteracy.html accessed 13 September 2004

(19) Wedgeworth op cit

(20) ibid

(21) re:Source Framework for the future 2003 http://www.resource.gov.uk/action/framework/framework.asp accessed 13 September 2004

(22) re:Source Framework for the future: action plan 2003-06 London, Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries 2003

(23) Train B, Usherwood B, Brooks G The vital link; an evaluation report Sheffield, Centre for the Public Library in the Information Society, University of Sheffield 2003

(24) Bundy op cit

(25) Nielson A C A national survey of reading, buying and borrowing books for pleasure 2001 www.ozco.gov.au/issues/booksalive/ac_nielsen.html accessed 13 Sept 2004

(26) ibid

(27) ibid

(28) Nieuwenhuizen A Young Australians reading inCite April 2001 http://www.alia.org.au/incite/2001/04/young.australians.html accessed 13 Sept 2004

(29) Woolcott Research Young Australians reading 2001 www.ozco.gov.au/resources/publications/research/yar/ accessed 13 Sept 2004

(30) Wedgeworth op cit

(31) ibid

(32) ibid

(33) National Literacy Trust The vital link 2003 http://www.literacytrust.org.uk accessed 13 September 2004

(34) Wedgeworth op cit

(35) ibid

Gayner Eyre BA PhD MCLIP AALIA works in the School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University NSW, having previously been a researcher at the University of Wales. She has had extensive management experience at senior level in public library services in the UK. Address: School of Information Studies Charles Sturt University PO Box 675 Wagga Wagga NSW 2678 tel [phone] fax [phone] [e-mail]