546 Book reviews

Automating Literacy: A Challenge for Libraries. L. MAIN, C. WHITAKER. (New Directions in Infor- mation Management no. 24). Greenwood Press, Westport, CT (1991). vi + 133 pp., $35.00, ISBN O-3 13-27528-9, ISSN 0887-3844.

Main and Whitaker provide a brief history of library involvement in reading programs for adu!ts. They highlight the libraries’ use of volunteers vs programs run by adult education professionals. Chap- ter 2 (“Enter the Computer . . . “) gives examples of computer use in public library reading programs from New York to California and the authors note that tutor reluctance to use computers may not always be overcome by adequate training programs (p. 26). More than 40 examples of literacy soft- ware programs are briefly described. All of these programs require advanced reading ability. The au- thors point out that the major gap in adult literacy software is for those with “zero reading ability” (p. 65), and one example of computer help for the zero reader is provided (Fig. 1, pp. 67-69).

Looking to the year 2000, Main and Whitaker recommend the creative use of the familiar: VCRs, speech synthesizers, video-disc players, CD-ROMS. The authors bypass such possibilities as “ubiq- uitous computing,” under development by the Xerox Corporation’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) which dumps keyboards for an electronically imbedded pad and pencil. Here is a future for those adult learners with “zero reading ability.”

The latest citation in the bibliography (pp. 123-125) is 1989, but individual chapters have some 1990 sources. Padded appendix material occupies pages 99-122.

In the preface, the authors state that this work is intended for librarians developing or enhanc- ing adult literacy programs, but most large public library systems (New York Public Library, Brook- lyn Public Library, Detroit Public Library, St. Louis Public Library, etc.), have already incorporated the Main and Whitaker suggestions. Still, the book should be of use to library science students need- ing a general statement on “automating literacy” in libraries.

Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science Brooklyn, NY

ANNE KELLY