This digest discusses some of the challenges facing libraries in the area of service to adults learning English as a Second Language. It describes services provided for this population by some libraries, and suggests tools and approaches that other libraries can use. It also outlines actions that participants at the 1991 White House Conference on…

Research on adult learning shows that there is no decline in ability to learn as people get older, that except for minor considerations such as hearing and vision loss, the age of the adult learner is not a major factor in language acquisition, and that the context in which adults learn is the major influence on their ability to acquire a new…