COMMITTEE MEETING:

The North Carolina Library Association Literacy Committee held a committee meeting on August 27, 2002 at the Mexico Restaurant in Greensboro. Members present were Mark Pumphrey (Chairman), Gale Greenlee, Trish Bean, and Mary Siedow. Members absent were Steve Sumerford, Jeanne Fox, Betty Meehan-Black and Anne-Marie Elkins.

Much of the committee meeting discussion involved plans for our "ESL@ theLibrary.org" workshop scheduled for Friday, October 4, 2002 at the Glenwood Branch of the Greensboro Public Library. The discussion was framed by a review of the Statement prepared for submission with our Special Projects Grant application to the NCLA Finance Committee.

Other agenda items included approval of the minutes from the committee meeting of July 2, 2002; the NCLA Executive Board Report; and an open forum for discussion of literacy topics and member updates on current literacy activities at their agencies.

The next meeting of the Literacy Committee will be held in January, 2003, with the exact date and location to be determined. This meeting will include a review of the evaluative report submitted to the NCLA Finance Committee in connection with the Special Projects Grant received from NCLA to support the ESL workshop in October. It will also be a time to plan programs for the NCLA Conference in October, 2003.

WORKSHOP

The NCLA Literacy Committee workshop on "ESL@ theLibrary.org" was held at the Glenwood Branch of the Greensboro Public Library on October 4, 2002, and was attended by 32 librarians and literacy staff and volunteers working in library and community ESL programs. The response to the workshop, as indicated by the comments on written evaluations, was overwhelmingly positive. An email list of participant names was distributed so the workshop participants can continue to dialogue about English as a Second Language as it relates to libraries.

Mark Pumphrey,
Chairman,
NCLA Literacy Committee
Submitted 10/16/02