Adult Literacy Center

The Polk County Public Library's Adult Literacy Center was funded through a series of program grants funded by the U.S. Department of Education's LSCA (Library Services and Construction Act) and administered by the State Library of North Carolina.

Though a special section of the library has been designated as the Adult Literacy Center, tutors and students may draw upon all of the materials in every part of the library which may aid in the development of basic reading, writing, computational, and other functional literacy skills. The library maintains a collection of Basic Education Materials with controlled reading levels in the Adult Literacy Center for those learning to read, write, or compute for the first time as adults. Pre-GED and GED materials may be found in the larger nonfiction collection for more advanced students. Tutor training materials are also available at the library.

In cooperation with the Polk County Literacy Council, the ESL program at the Polk Campus of Isothermal Community College, the Polk County Humanities Council, and other community agencies, the library is also engaged in attempts to meet the needs of county residents for whom English is a second language: not only to learn to speak English, but to become able to function successfully in their new country. The library maintains a collection of ESL Materials in the Adult Literacy Center to help meet this need.

While Basic Literacy and English as a Second Language are of primary importance to those learning to read, write, and compute in English for the first time as adults, the library also attempts to support the development of the love of reading in children through our Family Literacy Learn & Play programs, in which parents and their preschool-aged children participate together. Our regularly scheduled story times, in the library and through the Bookmobile outreach programs, and especially our Summer Reading Club activities, also support this goal.

The Planning For Results Planning Committee made a conscious decision to interpret literacy broadly, so that any form of training or instruction that occurs at the library which results in new skills or knowledge, is to be considered a part of our overall goal of literacy. Examples are computer training which results in greater information literacy for the participant; a film discussion series or pathfinder which enhances a participant/user's media literacy; or a travel program which results in increased geographic literacy for the participant.

Literacy programs and libraries have complimentary goals, and literacy will always be in the forefront of programs and services at the Polk County Public Library.