Ezell Humphrey didn't grow up in an environment that made him enjoy learning.
His father used to teach him the ABCs, but hit him when he got one wrong. That made Humphrey not want to go to school. He dropped out as a teenager and wasn’t able to read for most of his adult life.
“I couldn't even spell my own name,” he said.
“I got into the tutoring program and it changed my life."— Ezell Humphrey, Butte County Library Adult Reading Program participant
Being unable to read or write is not uncommon in California. The state has the worst literacy rates in the country, according to a survey from the nonpartisan World Population Review. Nearly one in four people over the age of 15 years lack basic literacy skills.
For Humphrey, it wasn’t until after he had kids and stopped using drugs that he became interested in learning again.
"I got on my feet and started seeking better things than drugs,” he said. “I got into the tutoring program, and it changed my life."
Public libraries across the state offer literacy services to adults, including the Butte County Library, which has an Adult Reading Program that allows Humphrey to meet with a tutor once a week. Right now he’s working toward earning a GED online.
Literacy services like this work to improve literacy skills in adulthood, but according to Claudia Tamasia who worked on a worldwide literacy survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an area’s literacy rates are impacted by early education.
"You contrast some of the European systems which offer free early education from three months old, versus the U.S. for example, where today early education is quite expensive and not available for everyone,” Tamasia said.
The OECD survey found some areas in the North State have poor adult literacy, including Glenn, Colusa and Sutter counties, which all have literacy rates below the state average.
In Colusa County, 42% of residents were at or below the lowest level of literacy skills. Pam DaGrossa, literacy program coordinator for the Colusa County Free Library, said the rate is mainly due to an immigrant population.
“They're native speakers of other languages, in which they may or may not be literate, be able to read and write,” she said. “But in English, they can't."
Of the 37 learners in the county’s Free Library program, only one is a native English speaker. The rest, like Irma Hernandez, are learning English as a second language.
Her first goal, she said, was to order her own food at a restaurant.
“Now, I want to get my GED and find a better job,” Hernandez said.
"[People with literacy skills] are also more likely to have better health, participate in the democratic process … so there are benefits of skills throughout society, not just in terms of wages and employment, but to the society as a whole."— Claudia Tamasia, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
She’s also learning English so she can become a U.S. citizen.
Pam DaGrossa, the program coordinator, said libraries are vital to fill learning gaps.
"This is obviously something that schools have not adequately addressed, if we're talking about adults with these issues,” she said. “And even for our immigrant populations, there's thoroughly inadequate ESL, training and availability."
Claudia Tamasia, with the OECD, said literacy skills bring other benefits.
"They are also more likely to have better health, participate in the democratic process. That is they're more likely to vote,” Tamasia said. “So there are benefits of skills throughout society, not just in terms of wages and employment, but to the society as a whole."
Ezell Humphrey said he's gained confidence since he started reading. He's even set his sights on his next learning goal.
"I don't know how to do computers and stuff like that yet,” he said. “But I'm not saying I'm not gonna learn. I'm open to learn anything."
Not knowing something used to scare Humphrey away, but now he said it makes him want to learn even more.
