According to a 2013 study by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute for Literacy, 21 percent of adults in the United States read below a 5th grade level. Millions of adults can barely read at all.
Joining us to discuss adult literacy and local efforts to help adults increase their reading, comprehension and math abilities are Literacy Council of Clermont & Brown Counties Executive Director, Susan Vilardo; Robbie Thomas, Cincinnati Public Schools Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) programs administrator; and Michael Loch, communications director with Give Back Cincinnati, a local volunteer service organization.
Give Back Cincinnati is holding a panel discussion on illiteracy in Cincinnati, Read This: Literacy Matters, on Thursday, March 2 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Newport Public Library. For more information, click here.
For information on other adult education programs in Greater Cincinnati, visit United Way of Greater Cincinnati, the Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati or the Public Library of Hamilton County and Cincinnati.
The Literacy Council of Clermont & Brown Counties will present The Power of Reading - The Power of Music, a concert to benefit literacy, on Sunday, March 19, at 2 p.m. at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church. Musicians Sarah Kim, Suzanne Bona, Paul Alexander, Stephen Fryxell and Manisha Patel will be performing. For more information and tickets, click here.