CHICAGO – “Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library,” a toolkit from the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS), is now available as a free print or digital edition.
Developed by the ALA Committee on Literacy and the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, “Literacy for All” features tips and tools for assessing community adult literacy needs and tailoring a literacy plan to address those needs, as well as examples of successful and replicable library literacy plans and resources for serving adult new and non-readers. The toolkit is available as an eight-page print edition, an easily-navigableWeb edition or as a downloadable PDF file (797K).
OLOS provides a series of outreach advocacy toolkits, including “The Guide to Building Support for Your Tribal Library,” “How to Serve the World @ your library: Serving Non-English Speakers in U.S. Public Libraries,” “The Small but Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library” and “Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library.” AllOLOS outreach toolkits are developed by experts from the field and contain proven strategies and resources for librarians to enhance library services in their communities.
For more information on “Literacy for All: Adult Literacy @ your library” and other OLOStoolkits, including ordering instruction, please visit www.ala.org/olos.
Special thanks to the ALA Committee on Literacy: Juliet I. Machie (chair), Sandra Dobbins, Andrews, Barbara L. Flynn, Elizabeth Friese, Terri G. Kirk, Victoria Schwoebel, Amanda Louise Sharpe, Patricia H. Smith, Hilda K. Weisburg and Sarah E. McDaniel.
The mission of OLOS is to identify and promote library services that support equitable access to the knowledge and information stored in libraries. OLOS focuses attention on services that are inclusive of traditionally underserved populations and people generally discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, language and social class. The Office ensures that training, information resources and technical assistance are available to help libraries and librarians develop effective strategies to grow programs and services for library users.
The ALA Committee on Literacy develops and recommends the Association’s policies related to the promotion of literacy, and develops and encourages the development of programs, educational opportunities, and other resources that assist librarians and libraries in promoting literacy. It also raises the awareness of literacy within the Association and works cooperatively with the Literacy Assembly, the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services and its Advisory Committee and other ALA units on efforts that have a literacy focus. It also develops and maintains partnerships with national literacy organizations.