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Background Topics
The Challenge
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Life Cycle & Literacy History Coalition
Partners		 Certified Literate Community

Where do we begin?
Any success we have in raising the level of literacy in our community will depend on recognizing it needs attention at every stage in life . . . AND THE EARLIER WE START,
THE MORE EFFECTIVE WE WILL BE!
MORE


The importance of combating illiteracy in our community was recognized by the organized efforts of concerned citizens as early as 1974 when the Pioneer Cooperative Education Service Agency hired Mary Lou Conner as a part time instructor. Classes of 50 to 60 adults met one evening a week in a local school classroom. MORE

 
A coalition is defined as “an alliance for combined action”. When we began to record who should be concerned with the level of literacy in our community the list began to grow and just kept growing. It is, in the fullest sense, a community responsibility. MORE
The Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (GDTAE) operates a statewide program in which communities make application to become recognized as a Certified Literate Community. The focus is on improving adult literacy throughout the designated community. MORE

 

Lumpkin County shares the national statistics.
The 2000 census reported 1 in 3 persons
in our population was functionally illiterate
and 1 in 3.6 with no high school
diploma or equivalent.

 

One in five Americans functions at the lowest level of literacy.*

Workers without a high school diploma earn 60 cents compared to the dollar earned by a high school graduate.*

85% of juvenile offenders have reading problems.*

Five billion dollars a year (estimated) is spent in public assistance to people who can’t get a job due to low literacy.*

The average kindergarten student has spent more time in front of the TV than it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree.*

American Medical Association reports that 46% of Americans cannot understand the label on their prescription bottle.

The National Adult Literacy Survey showed only 51% of prisoners have completed high school.

$225 billion per year was the annual cost of illiteracy to business because of workplace accidents, lost productivity, unrealized tax revenues, welfare payments and crime according to Department of Labor estimates.

*Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Institute for Literacy, National Assessment of Education Programs
 

 

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Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition
150-B Johnson Street • Dahlonega, Georgia 30533 • Phone: 706-867-9607 • www.lumpkinliteracy.org

The Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition is a 501c(3) Nonprofit and contributions are tax exempt.