So far my research proposal is coming along alright. The last few chapters of Robson's text have contained good, useful information on administering surveys and interviews. I have not yet decided whether to use a structured, survey-type interview or a more in depth, unstructured interview for my sample of illiterate/aliterate adult patrons. I am leaning toward arranging a sit-down conversation with those individuals, and perhaps utilizing a more structured, paper survey to garner the library staff's opinions and suggestions.
What I really need to focus on at this point is exploring literature, opinion pieces, literacy facts and figures, and other research proposals I can use as models or to get ideas for what works. Much of the existing research focuses on what the library can do to improve literacy in the community or to rid the community of illiteracy. I have not come across much data or opinion pieces on serving the illiterate population "as is". The piece by Cram which I cited in an earlier post is the only thing I have seen to indicate that this line of thought even exists.
I have, however, come across some literature that I should be able to put to good use. One of these offers a sample list of good adult new reader material, which could also useful for establishing a collection for ESL students and patrons with learning disabilities (Hibbets McCaffery, "Growing the Literary Collection", 1995). The collection should include recreational and informational materials, plus materials for teachers or tutors. The materials are listed based on their Fry Reading Level, which can be calculated based on the average number of sentences and syllables in a 100-word passage. This article and other similar pieces could be useful in establishing whether the library system contains the listed materials or other comparable texts for adult new readers. Additionally, I would like to find a piece that lists suggestions for good A/V materials to include in a collection for non-readers.
I also found an opinion piece, the subject of which I would like to explore further. In "Mission Aborted?" (2008), Grosso expresses doubts over the transition of libraries toward a place geared toward multimedia/gaming/entertainment materials rather than books. The author claims that the average library's collection is now two-thirds multimedia materials, which he sees as an extremely negative direction for the library industry to be heading. I have no doubt that there are other similar opinion pieces about the perceived degradation of the library's purpose in our society. These types of opinions may be seen as in direct conflict with my research purpose and proposal. However, I think that our purposes can be consolidated. What I want is not necessarily to increase the non-literary portion of the collection, but to see whether we are choosing the right non-literary and low-level literary materials for our collection. This means ensuring that the available materials are not solely of entertainment value, but also contain educational and instructional material as well.
Onward....
