Local illiteracy tops 50 percent

Karen Zekan

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1997 | 9:27 a.m.

An estimated 51 percent of Clark County residents are considered functionally illiterate, but civic leaders are confident the staggering statistic can be reversed.

The first step is spreading awareness throughout the community that America's "secret problem" does indeed exist, and that compassion from those who can read, write and work even the simplest math computations and computer applications is needed now more than ever to encourage those who can't.

"It's not whether we are winning or losing in the war against illiteracy," said Kenny Guinn, retired educator and businessman. "Every time you help a child or an adult learn to read or write, you have given that person an opportunity to improve their lives."

Guinn was the keynote speaker Monday night at the Imperial Palace hotel-casino where an estimated 500 people paying $45 a plate attended a dinner in honor of International Literacy Day.

A special presentation was made to Nevada's first lady, Sandy Miller, for her work with the "Take the Time to Teach" program, geared at getting adults to encourage children to read.

Money raised during the dinner was to be funneled back into Nevada's literacy programs, including the Computer Assisted Learning in Libraries, Catholic Charities, community college, and several dozen tutoring and reading programs established in recent years throughout the valley.

Guinn said his parents inspired him in his charge against illiteracy. His father could neither read nor write, and his mother had a third-grade education.

"As parents, they brought my two sisters, my brother and myself into the world and gave us every fiber in our body to make sure we could read and write," he said. "Someone has to be a caretaker, a mentor for those who can't."

Sharon Brooks, literacy manager for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, encourages parents to find ways to enjoy reading and suggested alternatives such as one night a week where the TV is turned off and books are opened, or reading for an hour every night.

"Survival skills that worked yesterday won't get you by tomorrow," she said. "Technology is advancing so rapidly. It takes a community to help the rest keep up."

Guinn pointed out that many people in America have found financial success without knowing how to read or write.

"'Why learn to read when I can see it all on TV' is their attitude, but what they are missing out on is a level of self satisfaction that you can only get through reading and writing."

And there are many for whom temporary financial success runs out, leaving them to compete with the rest of society for jobs.

"If you think it's a tremendous problem today for those who can read and are being displaced," Guinn said, "imagine how much harder it is for those who are illiterate."

For more information on ending illiteracy or programs to help all ages learn to read and write, contact the Southern Nevada Literacy Council at (800) 445-9673.