October 8, 1999

A new chapter at Loyola — Dedication of the Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy

by Trish Moser, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Public Affairs

Literacy is defined as "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals and develop one's knowledge and potential." (National Literacy Act of 1991)

Nationwide, more than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level, far below the level needed to earn a living wage. The National Adult Literacy Survey found that over 40 million Americans age 16 and older have significant literacy needs.

Focusing on the Issue

Mary Ann Corley, Ph.D., director of the Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy, arrived at Loyola with over 30 years of experience in adult literacy. During her career, Corley has worked in adult education program deelopment, research, and promotion and has directed literacy instructional staffs in Maryland. Until this past May, she served as director of the National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center in Washington, D.C. Corley's responsibilities included the oversight of the National Information Exchange Network for sharing information, research, expertise, and literacy resources regarding learning disabilities in adults. Corley is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including the 1997 Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for Adults with Special Learning Needs for "outstanding achievement in adult education and for exemplary service to adults with special learning needs and continuing dedication to lifelong learning." Corley is a leading voice on improving the delivery of educational services to adults with learning disabilities.

The mission of the Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy is to enrich the lives of people on public assistance by helping them achieve their full potential through literacy, and to contribute to a work force that will ensure a strong national economy. Established through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Boggs Center serves as a national clearinghouse for information, research, and resources pertaining to urban literacy and poverty.

The Boggs Center at Loyola joins Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania as the only universities in the nation to house national research centers on adult literacy.

The primary goals of the center are: (1) to establish and maintain a communication and information exchange network among literacy providers on issues of literacy within the context of public housing; (2) to add to the body of knowledge about best practices in adult literacy through the crafting of a research agenda; and (3) to build capacity among literacy practitioners to provide the best possible services to adult learners.

According to Corley, the center will provide information and resources on issues of literacy, poverty, public assistance, and homelessness for literacy providers through the publication of newsletters, the operation of a listserv, a hotline, and fact sheets. The center will conduct research on ways in which literacy, along with other support services, can help move people from public assistance to self-sufficiency. The center will disseminate this information through publications and presentations at national conferences.

In the spring of 2000, the center will conduct training for literacy programs throughout of Louisiana on a research-based program to help literacy practitioners enhance the services they provide for adults with learning disabilities.

Dedication

The Boggs Center will be formally dedicated on Friday, October 22. Daylong activities begin with a joint meeting of the New Orleans Area Literacy Coalition and the Louisiana Coalition for Literacy. In the afternoon, John Sabatini of the National Center on Adult Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania and Laurie Joyner, assistant professor of sociology at Loyola, will lead a session on Crafting a National Research Agenda for the Boggs Center. Other meetings include "Instructional Strategies for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners" and "Racism, Culture, and History."

The dedication ceremony begins at 3:10 p.m. in Roussel Hall located in the Music/Communications Complex. The keynote speaker is William Julius Wilson whose latest book, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor, was selected as one of the most notable books of 1996 by the editors of The New York Times Book Review and received the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award. Wilson is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University.

U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Corinne Claiborne (Lindy) Boggs will also attend the dedication of the center named in her honor.

The dedication is free, open to the Loyola community and the public, but seating is limited. For more information on the dedication and daylong activities, please contact the Boggs Center at ext. 7077.