The Second Start Adult Literacy Program:

Second Start, Oakland Public Library's Adult Literacy program, offers a confidential setting in which a adult who cannot read is able to get a "second start" at learning, for free. The Second Start Adult Literacy Program has been matching volunteer tutors and adult literacy students at the Oakland Public Library for over ten years. In that time, tutors have taught over 2,000 adults the basic skills they need to improve the quality of their lives.

There are many reasons why adults don't learn to read the first time around. Many of the people that come to Second Start are from sharecropping families and had to work in the fields rather than attend school. Other new readers had undiagnosed learning disabilities, or moved around from school to school, or had problems at home that slowed their progress in school. And others just never realized the value of reading until they were out of school.

The National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, conducted by E.T.S., and released in September, 1993 concluded that 91 million Americans are functioning at the lowest two levels of literacy skill. More conservative figures estimate 1 in 5 English-speaking adults are functionally illiterate in this country. In cities such as Oakland, the figures are even higher because of the high correlation between poverty and illiteracy.

Library literacy programs began in public libraries in California with funding from the California State Library, when State Librarian Gary Strong initiated the California Literacy Campaign in 1984. Many of these programs are still going strong in 1995, thanks to the support of local libraries and grassroots efforts of students and tutors to keep the problem of illiteracy in the public eye.

In February, 1995, Second Start moved to a larger facility in downtown Oakland, where staff can now offer private tutoring rooms for tutor-student teams and small groups, basic spelling and math classes, a computer learning center where students can reinforce basic skills exercises on 15 computers, and expanded services for families as part of the Families for Literacy Program.

Prospective students need to call Second Start at (510) 238-3432 and make an appointment for an assessment interview. Prospective volunteers should call to get information and register for the free twelve-hour training. Second Start is continually upgrading the computers in the computer learning center as well as the educational software, and would appreciate any donations of equipment, and of Mac programming time.

In an effort to provide students with meaningful learning materials, Second Start produced three sets of Oakland Readers, a series of reading texts based on the oral histories of literacy students. Copies of Oakland Readers may be purchased through Second Start at $5 per copy. For further information, please call (510) 238-3432.

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Families for Literacy Program

The Families for Literacy Program of Second Start trains new readers with young children to improve their skills while reading aloud to their families, helping to break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy.

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  Adult Illiteracy is a Business Concern

Adult illiteracy is an urgent and growing problem in this country. The statistics are alarming and the social and economic costs are great. The increased technology of our competitive economy makes adult illiteracy a significant problem for today's business community in terms of productivity and human resources development.

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The Numbers

The Costs

The Solution

These numbers represent a huge loss to Oakland of individual, social and economic potential.

One solution is the Oakland Public Library's adult literacy program, Second Start. In 1982, the Library began to provide one-to-one tutoring to help Oakland adults master literacy skills. Since that time, over 1400 have learned to read, some have even become tutors themselves. Currently there are 500 volunteer teachers and students working together in pairs to overcome illiteracy in Oakland.

What You Can Do

Many Oakland businesses have recognized the importance of a literate community and are participating in the Oakland Public Library's Second Start Program. Everyone profits.

This is what your company can do:

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