Long Range Plan, 2003-2007 : Literacy  

According to the Massachusetts Department of Education, an estimated two million Massachusetts adults lack the educational skills and abilities expected of a high school graduate. Approximately 877,000 or 19 percent of adults over the age of 18 have not attained functional literacy, and another 1,162,000 (25 percent) are functioning below the level of skills and abilities expected of a high school graduate. The total of these two groups adds up to almost 45 percent of our state's population 18 years of age and older, which means that almost half of all adults lack an adequate educational foundation and are in need of basic education services.

Many of these adults dropped out of high school, but this group also includes high school graduates who either have not achieved expected levels of competency or who lack the ability to communicate their skills and abilities in English. Low educational level also has an impact creating a continuing intergenerational cycle of illiteracy, a workforce unable to effectively learn new procedures and technologies, and a business community unable to compete effectively.

The Massachusetts budget for adult basic education was $17 million in FY2002. The Adult and Community Learning office is part of the Massachusetts DOE. They offer Adult Basic Education grants (including literacy through adult secondary education and English for speakers of other languages) which provide free access for educationally disadvantaged adults, age 16 and older, for adult basic education services in their geographic or ethnic communities in the Commonwealth. These services are supported through combined federal and state funding. A limited number of library-based literacy programs have secured DOE funding in the past five years.

The DOE also funds SABES (System for Adult Basic Education Support) which supports five regional centers in coordination with a central support center. These centers, operating much like the Massachusetts Regional Library systems, offer accessible training opportunities and resources for staff, program, and leadership development for adult basic education providers, including library-based literacy programs.