Wednesday, September 23, 1998

Making your business better with literacy

Reading this editorial uses skills most of us learned so long ago that we're not even conscious of having them, let alone using them.

The act of reading - of acquiring information via the printed word - is so basic to our lives it's nearly impossible for us to imagine how different the world would be if we couldn't read. Never mind reading for entertainment - most of us couldn't last five minutes at our jobs. How could we communicate with people we couldn't talk to? How would we know what doses of over-the-counter medications to take? How could we find addresses or order from a restaurant menu, fill out a job application or follow an employment manual?

Face it, in an environment in which comprehending the printed word is taken for granted, we'd be lost without basic literacy skills.

Yet the lives of hundreds of intelligent Abilenians are diminished because they can't read and write. Studies indicate as many as one in four West Texans is functionally illiterate. And the larger society they live in is diminished, too, because it is denied the contributions those people could make if they were able to participate in the give-and-take communication of the written word.

The business community is realizing that combating illiteracy doesn't just help the illiterate; it also helps employers who need productive workers. Rather than being hand-out programs, literacy efforts benefit employers by providing them a more qualified workforce. Increasing literacy makes good business sense.

That's why a seminar on workplace literacy - intended especially for department managers and human resource directors - is being held Tuesday at the Abilene Civic Center from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Presented by the Taylor County Adult Literacy Council and co-sponsored by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, the Abilene Industrial Foundation and the Abilene Education Council, the seminar will focus on how to identify adult education needs in a company and the tools for meeting those needs.

The cost of the seminar, only $20 per person including lunch, is a small investment that could produce a large return. It could make your business better and thus enhance the whole community. To register or obtain more information, call the AISD Adult Education office at 671-4419.