LITERACY FACTS CLICK AWAY ON WEB

Facts about literacy and recommended reading are just a click of the mouse away.

Hundreds of literacy and reading-related sites can be found on the Internet, with information about literacy resources, becoming a literacy volunteer and good books for building literacy skills and just plain fun.

The National Institute for Literacy includes a wide range of facts about literacy on its Web site,

www.nifl.gov

According to the NIFL, more than 20 percent of American adults read at or below a fifth-grade level -- lower than the skill level needed to earn a living wage.

NIFL's "fast facts" on literacy also show that 43 percent of Americans with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty, 17 percent receive food stamps and 70 percent are unemployed or employed only part-time.

The NIFL site also includes resources for literacy tutors and information on literacy education programs available nationwide.

Click on the "Get Involved" icon to get the phone number for the NIFL hotline, 800-228-8813, for information on literacy education and how to volunteer as a literacy tutor.

PBS' Literacy Link site,

www.pbs.org/learn/literacy

includes information on how to earn a GED, learning disabilities in adults and links to other literacy-related sites.

The Laubach Literacy Foundation's Web site can be found at

www.laubach.org

and includes information on literacy tutoring programs, the Laubach program itself and books for new readers.

The Laubach organization was founded in 1955 and has established programs worldwide to help adults learn to read or improve their reading skills.

For reading teachers and literacy tutors, the Literacy and Education Archive,

http://eserver.org/literacy/

includes a variety of scholastic articles and links to databases on literacy and reading skills.

The National Center on Adult Literacy's Web site,

www.literacyonline.org

includes facts about literacy and links to other literacy sites.

When you're through playing on the Web and are ready to sit down with a good book, there are many Web sites listing recommended reading, especially for youngsters.

clink on the "Clearinghouse" icon at the Web site of the Literacy Assistance Center,

www.acnyc.org

and you'll find the Bookbinders Collection, which includes a list of recommended books for children.

The site also features lesson plans for building reading skills for children grades K-12.

The Language and Literacy Project,

www.uis.edu/tildecook/langlit/index.html

includes extensive links, plus a long list of picture books geared toward young readers.

The Children's Literature Webguide

www.acs.ucalgary.ca/tildedkbrown.index.html

includes lists of recommended books, publishers and booksellers, as well as resources for teachers and parents of children in grades K-12.

The search engine Yahoo, under its Arts and Humanities guide, includes several links to recommended reading lists for children.

The New York Public Library,

www.NYPL.org/branch/kids/gloria.html

has a list of "100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know," including "Henny Penny and "Goodnight Moon."

Mr. Rogers neighborhood is in cyberspace these days. The Neighborhood Book List,

www.pbs.org/rogers/booklist.html

lists several recommended books for children.

And the American Library Association,

www.ala.org

lists notable children's books and lists of banned and challenged books.

Yahoo also features listings on different genres of fiction, including mysteries, nonfiction, romance and young adult titles, as well as lists of current best sellers.