E. Library and Literacy Initiatives

This section presents exemplary library initiatives in adult literacy from across the country although it is by no means an exhaustive list of such activities. A number of factors were considered in the choice of which adult literacy initiatives to highlight. These initiatives had to:

• match the theme tables at the summit. “Community Development” emerged as additional theme in interviews and discussions; a national program was selected as an example.
• represent adult literacy including English as a Second Language (ESL) literacy issues
• be established and ongoing. Many successful programs have closed over the years; other initiatives fulfilled their objectives and resulted in changes for library systems.
• represent urban and rural activities, provincial initiatives, collaborations with external organizations, and collaboration among libraries.
• offer a cross country picture of adult literacy in libraries.

The presentations and discussions at the 2006 Summit will hopefully stimulate participants to talk about other exciting projects in their local and provincial library systems.

For each example, there is information about the motivation and funding for the project, a brief description of its distinctive elements, the successes and impacts on the library and community, the challenges libraries faced and how they addressed them, future plans and finally, advice to others who might be interested in designing and offering a similar program.