This issue contains 21 articles discussing library-sponsored literacy programs, tutoring and programming techniques, and state and national efforts. The articles include: (1) "Beyond Decoding: Literacy and Libraries--Introduction" (Amy Spaulding); (2) "Libraries: Natural Centers for Literacy" (Jacqueline Cook); (3) "Kids…

The "Let's Talk about It" program began in Vermont as a reading and discussion group based in local libraries and grew into a program in 30 states and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The program brought together a diverse audience of adults to read books on selected themes in literature.…

A project in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, investigated whether the use of computers along with Laubach literacy materials could significantly raise the reading level of adults presently reading at the 0-4 grade levels. Adults in a control and an experimental group (15 in each) worked one-on-one with volunteer tutors using the "Laubach Way to…

The Boulder Public Library offered a one-to-one free literacy program aimed at middle-class nonreaders. During the fiscal year October 1988 to September 1989, the program matched 60 new students with volunteer tutors; of these, 52 enrolled, boosting enrollment to 90 students. The program also conducted assessment tests on 72 students and…

The 1988-89 Highlands Educational Literacy Project (HELP) in southwest Virginia was initially designed to provide local volunteer tutors with intensive training in the Laubach one-to-one method of teaching reading. HELP was a cooperative effort of community service agencies, church and civic groups, and interested individuals to provide free…