New Readers Press Founder Talks About the Big 4-0!

Publisher of adult literacy, GED prep, and English-as-a-second-language teaching materials marks anniversary

December 17, 2007
Syracuse, NY

To view an interview with New Readers Press founder, Dr. Robert Laubach, click here

The publishing program of ProLiteracy Worldwide, the largest organization of adult basic education (ABE) and literacy programs in the world, has come a long way since its start as a class project for literacy journalism students at Syracuse University. The more than 500 titles on New Readers Press’s current list have helped teach millions of adults to read, write, do math, and speak English in the 40 years since Dr. Robert Laubach’s students produced the first issues of the easy-to-read newspaper News for You.

And thousands of other adults have benefitted from New Readers Press, even if they don’t use its books and study guides—the publisher’s revenues support the training programs, international literacy grants, and advocacy work that ProLiteracy provides in support of the people and community literacy centers where adults go for one-on-one tutoring sessions and small group or classroom instruction.

“It’s that ‘double bottom line,’ that making a profit and using it to further an important cause, that makes New Readers Press different from so many other publishing companies,” said David C. Harvey, ProLiteracy president and CEO. “It’s what makes New Readers Press unique in the adult publishing field.”

When adult literacy pioneer Dr. Frank Laubach and his son, Robert C. Laubach, started New Readers Press in 1967, there were few materials available to use in teaching adults who did not read or write well; New Readers Press was established to develop and publish materials for this market.

“It would seem reasonable that, if you simplified materials by using common language, simple sentences, and short paragraphs, the messages in those materials would be better understood by adults who don’t read well. But it went against the current in those days. We had to support our case with research,” Dr. Robert Laubach said. He noted that students in his literacy journalism class tested the materials they created—they would listen as adult learners used them in local adult basic education classes, later making adjustments based on how easy or difficult the passages had been for learners to read. The thesis Laubach wrote for his masters degree in education also supported the theory with scientific study.

Through the years New Readers Press would publish one of the first products for teachers and volunteer tutors working with English-as-a-second-language students (Laubach Way to English) and established new curricula for reading and math instruction. Recently New Readers Press entered the General Educational Development (GED) market with its Score Boost products and launched a series of materials for use with middle and high school students falling below grade level. Today, the more than 500 titles the division publishes or distributes include:

· Three developmental reading programs accommodating differing needs of teachers, tutors, and students.
· A wide range of English as a second language programs and supplements
· GED preparation materials
· High school test-prep and remedial products
· Training and professional development materials for adult educators
· Health literacy products · A life skills collection including Get that Job!, and Control Your Money.

“A major contribution that New Readers Press has made comes from what we’ve learned through the years about designing materials for low level readers,” said Dennis Cook, vice president of publishing. “Things such as how important the right typeface is for maximum readability and using white space. When the right typeface didn’t exist in the early years, New Readers Press designed its own.”

Future plans include adding a Web component for News for You, updating core materials, a new reading program, and supplementing New Readers Press product development with foundation and government grants to expand the program’s reach, Cook said.

In reflecting back on the past 40 years, Laubach said he had no idea that the work begun in a college class would someday lead to a $6 million a year program that would influence thousands of lives.

“The goal was always to make it possible for people to read. The bigger the program, the more people reading,” he said.

To view an interview with New Readers Press founder, Dr. Robert Laubach, click here