HOUSTON � The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) had a full agenda when it met here Oct. 21 in conjunction with the annual conference of the Literacy Volunteers of America, and, by forgoing the usual show-and-tell "organizational updates," managed to get through it expeditiously. Here is a summary of the highlights:

Summit Update � Vice President Al Gore has still not set a date for his White House summit on lifelong learning, so it may not happen in December or January as previously suggested.

Meanwhile, former Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) has set March 29 and 30 as the dates for his literacy summit in Carbondale, Ill. He hopes to include adult learners; Colin Powell, Barbara Bush and Walter Cronkite; business and literacy organization leaders; and media celebrities. The NCL voted to endorse the Simon summit.

This all leaves the National Institute for Literacy, the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy at Harvard, and the U.S. Education Department's Division of Adult Education and Literacy at loose ends as they look for a propitious opportunity to hold their own summit, the object of which will be the creation of a vision statement for the field. They will try to position their summit as some sort of follow-up to one or both of the other two. The NCL still wants to be a full partner, as does the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education.

Broader Membership � Peggy Barber of the American Library Association (ALA) proposed that the NCL broaden its membership now that the America Reads legislation is mandating new partnerships between literacy programs targeted to children, families and adults.

Since its founding in 1981, the NCL has focused primarily on adult literacy, although members have included the ALA, the International Reading Association, National Center for Family Literacy and other groups with a broader focus.

After some discussion, the NCL decided to keep its primary focus on adults but to welcome any new members who feel common cause. Barber volunteered to rewrite the NCL membership application to re-emphasize the focus on adults.

Corporate Tie-In � A start-up company called BiblioWorld, which plans to sell rare and used books over the Internet, wants to give customers the option to direct 1 percent of their purchase price to the literacy cause, in exchange for a one-year pledge to make BiblioWorld their first stop when looking for particular books. (That's more than nonprofit organizations get from the typical affinity credit card deal.)

The company offered to let the NCL decide where that 1 percent should go, in exchange for the right to use the NCL's name in advertising and promotions. After several NCL members said they were uneasy about the legal and other implications of such a corporate tie-in, the group decided to review and clarify its policy and then get back to BiblioWorld later.