Adult New Reader Materials Available Here: A Survey of Literacy Materials Available in Three North Carolina Public Library Systems

by Borene, Elizabeth

In 1999, researcher Denni Kay Scales asked the question: How do adult new readers find literacy materials in the public library? The following study is an attempt to continue the discussion by addressing a similar question in surveying three library systems in North Carolina, and also to evaluate the presence or absence of a separate literacy section.

The findings point to even more diversity in subject matter and location than Scales found. The results of this study indicate that literacy materials, when carried by a public library, are rarely shelved in a separate literacy section, and sometimes even in more than one section of the main collections. This prompts the following questions: Is a literacy section needed in public libraries? What are the benefits of separating this material out for adult new readers? Should literacy materials be integrated with the main collections?