In 1995, approximately 30 delegates from public libraries and literacy organizations at the national and provincial/territorial levels came together because there was a need to document library-literacy initiatives, develop a national long-term strategy for literacy services in libraries and dialogue with literacy groups. Delegates came from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon. Seven participants were from literacy organizations. Although libraries have always been involved in literacy, there was an increased interest in literacy with the advent of 1990, International Literacy Year. The event was hosted by AFLIG.

The 1995 Summit objectives were to:

• review and examine the historical and current cross-Canada activities in libraryliteracy service at the local, provincial, and regional levels
• provide an opportunity for representatives of the library community to meet with representatives of the national literacy organizations to present their perceptions and their assessment of libraries’ role in literacy services
• begin the process of developing a long-term library-literacy strategy and provide tools to provincial and territorial library bodies that will enable them to work on their own library-literacy initiatives
• to document Summit proceedings and to produce a report that will publicly present the recommended development tools for local library-literacy strategies.

Participants developed an action plan for the involvement of public libraries in literacy. The action plan focused on CLA leadership, documentation of library-literacy work across Canada, resource documentation, and the development of promotional and educational materials. Other recommended actions included campaigns to promote reading, effective communication within library systems and between libraries and literacy organizations, and raising the profile of libraries’ literacy services.

Participants identified barriers in delivering literacy services through libraries. The most common barriers were no national literacy infrastructure, lack of effective partnerships and communication between libraries and literacy organizations, and lack of funding. Other barriers were the perception on the part of libraries that literacy is not their responsibility, and perceptions on the part of adult learners that libraries cannot help them.