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The Oklahoma Literacy Coalition and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries work hand in hand to offer literacy services to Oklahoma communities. Joni Elmore with the Literacy Coalition says the Bartlesville Public Library houses the Oklahoma Literacy Coalition under the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

She also says the BPL offers four tiers of literacy services to the local community, which includes remedial reading. They teach remedial reading to adults who may have suffered unfortunate situations like generational poverty in their childhood household. That may have caused them to drop out of school. Elmore adds that dults that participate in remedial reading courses may have had to work on a generational family farm as well which may have required most of their time to the farm than school. Those were a few reasons Elmore listed.

Elmore says remedial statistics are pretty high considering 46-percent of adults in the United States read poorly. The number in Oklahoma is around 43-percent. As Elmore kept listing the statistics, she said 32-percent of Oklahoma’s adults read at a basic level while 12-percent of Oklahoma’s adults read below a basic level. Elmore says that means remedial courses in a supportive environment is important.

The English Language Learners Program is another literacy service the Bartlesville Public Library offers. Based on 2013 statistics, Elmore says 10.3-percent of persons in Oklahoma schools do not speak English. There was also a 48-percent increase in foreign language speakers in Oklahoma alone. Elmore believes that number is more than likely up since that study was conducted. That to Elmore means that there is a growing need to teach English to those who want to learn the English language.

The Citizenship Program and The Health Literacy Program are the other tiers that the Bartlesville Public Library offers. To help the library with any of literacy courses or to participate in the programs, Elmore invites you to come visit them on the second floor of the library located at 600 S Johnstone Ave. in Bartlesville. You can also give them the library a call at 918.338.4161.