The schools of library sciences at North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will hold a conference next spring on improving literacy among young black males. The conference is funded in part by a $126,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that supports the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.
The conference, entitled Building a Bridge to Literacy for African-American Male Youth, will be held on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
Irene Owens, dean of the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University, states, “Extensive research shows that poor literacy skills among young African-American males have lifelong negative consequences. Libraries and librarians have always played an important role in promoting literacy, and yet there is no coordinated national effort to address this persistent socio-economic problem.”
I think this is a very relevant issue and needs to be addressed. With less than 50% of our young Black males graduating from high school in this country and twelfth-grade reading scores of African American adolescent males were significantly lower than those for adolescent males and females across every other racial and ethnic group.
Can someone share when and where this conference will take place?
The conference will be held in April or May on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As far as we know, the exact date has not been determined.