Philadelphia Library Cooks up Culinary Literacy

This program in the city library teaches literacy while teaching cooking; reading ingredients and recipes, figuring out costs and measurements, etc. Learning while doing, excellent!   - - Donna Poisl

By KATHY MATHESON Associated Press

What's cooking at the Philadelphia public library? Plenty, now that it has a million-dollar kitchen at its main downtown branch.

The library has whipped up an unusual culinary program designed to improve the city's low literacy rate. Some courses will use recipes and nutrition labels to teach language and math, while others are geared toward immigrant restaurant workers learning English.

About 500,000 Philadelphia adults — a third of the total population — don't read above an eighth-grade level, according to library president and director Siobhan Reardon.

"We're looking to raise the bar on the library's approach to dealing with this confounding literacy issue in this city," Reardon said.
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