DC LEARNs and the D.C. Public Library Recognize International Literacy Month with Presentation on Adult Literacy in the District

WASHINGTON-(Business Wire)-September 21, 2009 - D.C. LEARNs:

WHAT: DC LEARNs and the D.C. Public Library will celebrate International Literacy Month with a public forum for prospective literacy volunteers and advocates, entitled “Is Reading Really Fundamental? How Adult Literacy Is Related to Other Social Issues.”

WHEN: Tuesday, September 29^th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm

WHERE: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW in the Great Hall.

WHO: The featured speaker will be Talmadge Guy, author of providing Culturally Relevant Adult Education: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century. Other speakers include:

George Washington University's Karyn Pomerantz, who will speak about health literacy;
Bread for the City's Stacey Smith, who will speak about how adult literacy affects employment;
Jeff Carter, Executive Director of D.C. LEARNs; and
Chico Melendez, who will speak about his experience learning English.

More details, including a video, are in our social media release here: http://pitch.pe/24233

In the District, it is estimated that nearly one in five D.C. residents have difficulty reading. Low literacy has been linked to issues such as the mortgage crisis, unemployment, and access to health care.

The purpose of the forum is to explore how low adult literacy rates impact other social issues, and to provide information on how D.C. residents can support adult literacy programs by volunteering or sharing information through various forms of social media.

Find us at: facebook.com/adultliteracy

Prospective attendees are asked to RSVP by September 25^th, by emailing benjamin.merrion@dc.gov or calling (202) 727-2431.

D.C. LEARNs (http://www.dclearns.org) is a nonprofit citywide coalition of more than 70 members, most of whom are organizations providing adult, family, and children’s literacy services to the residents of Washington, D.C. Our mission is to work with these organizations to strengthen literacy services and present a strong, unified voice on the importance of literacy as an investment in the community. We work to raise public awareness of literacy issues, recruit volunteers, and provide the materials, research, and training needed to raise the quality of literacy services available to D.C. residents.

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