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B. Dalton Literacy Project
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118567616
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B. Dalton Literacy Project
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Records of the Office of Counsel to the President (Reagan Administration)
John Roberts' Subject Files
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Roberts, John G.: Files
Folder Title: B. Dalton Literacy Project
Box: 5
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
we
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
+ 6 we do
August 18, 1983
SCHEDULE PROPOSAL
Home Pron
TO:
Fred Ryan, Director
Presidential Appointments and Scheduling
FROM:
James K. Coyne, Special Assistant to the
President, Private Sector Initiatives
w/ceo call his to
REQUEST:
Photo opportunity
PURPOSE:
To recognize B. Dalton's National Literacy
discuss discryon
Initiative.
BACKGROUND:
In 1978, B. Dalton began funding literacy
8/20
programs within the community. Since then,
B. Dalton has become a founding member of
Coalition for Literacy, which is a national
awareness campaign. To date, B. Dalton has
funded more than 100 community-based volunteer
programs. At this event, B. Dalton will
announce an additional $3 million commitment
to the National Literacy Initiative which will
enable another 100,000 students to be tutored.
B. Dalton is willing to give this maximum
publicity and produce a poster with the
President and a student and tutor for distribution
to schools, libraries and the 700 B. Dalton
stores nationwide.
As you know, Mrs. Bush has been quite active
in the area of adult literacy. We recommend
that you include Mrs. Bush in whatever way
is appropriate.
PREVIOUS
None
PARTICIPATION:
DATE:
August 23-Seattle
August 25-San Diego
Open, before September 7 - any major city in the U.S.
DURATION:
10 minutes
LOCATION:
Open
PARTICIPANTS:
Sherman Swenson, Chairman, B. Dalton Bookseller
National Literacy groups
Tutors and students of literacy programs
REMARKS REQUIRED: Brief remarks
MEDIA COVERAGE:
Open press.
2
OUTLINE OF
President greets guests
EVENTS:
Sherman Swenson tells President of
B. Dalton's private sector initiative
President congratulates B. Dalton and
poses for picture
RECOMMENDED BY: Jim Coyne
PROJECT OFFICER: Jim Coyne
Attachments
Description of program and accompanying letter
B. DALTON NATIONAL
LITERACY INITIATIVE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
THE CHALLENGE
Basic, functional illiteracy is at epidemic proportions in the U.S. The social
cost is enormous, in dollars, human suffering, social disorder and lost
productivity. The U.S. Department of Education estimates conservatively that
26 million American adults are functionally illiterate and other estimates range as
high as 60 million people. Beyond the personal tragedy, it is estimated that
illiteracy costs the nation $225 billion each year. With as much as 25 percent of
the population functionally illiterate, the time to act is now.
THE RESPONSE: A NATIONAL LITERACY INITIATIVE
In 1978, B. Dalton, began funding literacy programs within our communities. In
1981, along with the American Library Association and other groups, we became a
founding member of Coalition for Literacy. The Coalition was established to
launch a national awareness campaign. In 1982, B. Dalton and ACTION began a
volunteer management training program through a public/private partnership. Since
1978, B. Dalton has funded community-based volunteer programs that support the
training of tutors and the tutoring of illiterate adults. To date, B. Dalton has
funded more than 100 community-based volunteer programs. The additional
$3 million commitment to the National Literacy Initiative will enable another
estimated 100,000 adults to be tutored. The announcement of this major private
sector initiative will be made in San Francisco during the week of September 5,
1983.
ADULT PROGRAM GOALS
English-speaking adult Americans who cannot read are the primary target of
B. Dalton's efforts. Of the 100,000 adults the corporate-sponsored initiative
will reach, it is desired that a minimum of 70,000 achieve their literacy goals.
B. Dalton will fund community-based volunteer literacy programs throughout the
country. By 1986, company efforts will have trained 50,000 new literacy
volunteers.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
B. Dalton's National Literacy Initiative finances tutoring strategies which are
community-based, volunteer run, privately funded, and easily managed. Volunteers
provide one-on-one tutoring for illiterate adults. Dramatic gains can be seen
within the first few months of such a tutoring program. Tutoring can be conducted
in a volunteer's home, a community setting, etc. No special facilities are
required.
PRESIDENTIAL INVOLVEMENT
President Reagan is requested to be the primary speaker at a news conference,
tentatively planned for the Kearny Street B. Dalton location in downtown
San Francisco. The President's appearance is requested for a maximum of
20 minutes. He would introduce the program, dramatize the need for a national
literacy effort, and call for further public/private sector partnerships.
Mrs. Barbara Bush would also be asked to be present. Also present would be
Mr. Sherman Swenson, President and Chief Executive Officer of B. Dalton
Bookseller. A volunteer tutor and pupil would also be in attendance. Photographs
would be taken of the President, Mrs. Bush, the tutor, and pupil for a poster
which B. Dalton would produce and distribute.
PROGRAM EXTENSION
To ensure maximum exposure, B. Dalton will produce a poster depicting the
President, Mrs. Bush, and a student and tutor for distribution to select schools,
public libraries, and 700 B. Dalton stores nationwide. In addition, B. Dalton
will publish a letter from the President and Mrs. Bush, appealing for literacy
volunteers. The letter will appear in B. Dalton's winter children's and holiday
book catalogs, which will be seen by more than 20 million people. The holiday
book catalog will also appear in the November 21 issue of People magazine. The
President may also wish to personally address a letter of recognition to the
thousands of literacy tutors working through the more than 100 literacy programs
presently funded by B. Dalton.
SCHEDULING ALTERNATIVES
We have suggested the San Francisco B. Dalton store as the primary site for this
announcement. Everything possible will be done to accommodate White House
requirements for both location and date. The announcement news conference can
also be held at another San Francisco site or a community services location-such
as the main San Francisco public library. B. Dalton is also flexible in regard to
the choice of city. Other potential cities where the announcement could be made
include Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, or
Washington, D.C. The week of September 5 is critical because it is National
Literacy Week. Choice of time is also flexible, although we suggest early morning
to best accommodate the news media.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAM COMPONENTS
B. Dalton also funds a literacy program aimed at the nation's youth. B. Dalton
Bookseller, a division of Dayton Hudson Corporation, is the nation's largest
retail bookseller with over 700 stores nationwide.
B.Dalton
August 15, 1983
BOOKSELLER
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am honored to invite your participation in a public
announcement of our additional commitment of $3
million for B. Dalton's National Literacy Initiative
during the week of September 5 in San Francisco.
B. Dalton first became interested in our nation's
literacy problem five years ago, when studies revealed
that somewhere between 25 and 60 million Americans--as
much as 25 percent of the population-were functionally
illiterate.
It is my belief that private sector initiative is our
best hope for reducing and ultimately eliminating
adult illiteracy. To this end, we are members of the
Coalition for Literacy and are working with Mrs. Barbara
Bush and Mr. James Coyne of the President's Office of
Private Initiatives.
Our financial commitment is in addition to the volunteer
efforts of hundreds of B. Dalton employees, who act as
reading tutors to adults seeking to acquire basic
reading skills. We are also soliciting private sector
support from other corporations to expand the scope of
the program.
We believe the goals of our National Literacy Initiative
can best be realized with your support. To ensure the
widest possible audience for our efforts, we would
like to produce a poster with you and Mrs. Bush for
distribution in our more than 700 bookstores and
selected schools and libraries in B. Dalton's communities.
We would also like to publish a letter in our winter
children's and holiday book catalogs from you and
Mrs. Bush, calling for a national volunteer effort.
As a final gesture, we would suggest that you might
wish to send a personal letter of recognition to all
EXECUTIVE OFFICES
volunteers within the more than 100 literacy projects
ONE CORPORATE CENTER
we directly support.
7505 METRO BOULEVARD
MINNEAPOLIS. MN 55435
(612) 893-7000
National Literacy Initiative
August 15, 1983
Page 2
I look forward with great anticipation to your
participation in B. Dalton's National Literacy
Initiative. I will telephone your office on
August 18 to determine your interest in our
invitation.
Sincerely,
Sheweman
Sherman Swenson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
B. Dalton Bookseller
SS/1k
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 2, 1983
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
FROM:
JOHN G. ROBERTS QS62
SUBJECT:
B. Dalton Literacy Project
After confering with Richard A. Hauser, I
advised Livingston's office that we had
no objections to the draft letter. I also
told Michael Castine that B. Dalton should
be admonished not to use the letter in a
commercially exploitive fashion, but only
in connection with the literacy campaign
itself.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 30, 1983
MEMORANDUM FOR PETER RUSTHOVEN
SUBJECT:
B. Dalton Literacy Project
On Tuesday, September 6, the President will participate
in a photo opportunity with the organizers of B. Dalton
Booksellers' Literacy Project. Attached you will find a
request for a Presidential message to be used in B. Datlon's
catalog that will be sent to the general public.
In light of the fact that they have been informed that
the President will not provide any quotes during the photo
session and considering the commercial implications of a
Presidential message in this very competitive industry, I
would appreciate your review and return to me by close of
business tomorrow.
Many thanks.
In for DODIE Sodie LIVINGSTON Livengston
480-OEOB/Ext. 2941
Att.
B.Dalton
August 27, 1983
BOOKSELLER
Mr. Michael Castine
Office of Private Sector Initiatives
132 Old Executive Office Building
17th & Pennsylvania NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Michael:
Enclosed is a copy of the suggested letter from
President Reagan concerning the national literacy
problem. As you will recall, if the President approves,
we will publish the letter in our Holiday Books
Catalog, which will be inserted in a November People
Magazine issue and seen by more than 20 million people.
Please feel free to make comments or changes on
the letter as you see fit.
With regard to the photo opportunity with the
President on the afternoon of September 6:
We would like to have two different photos of the
President taken. One would be a photo for release
to the news media. It would feature the President
accepting a larger-than-life symbolic check for $3
million on behalf of the national literacy effort
and the volunteers and students in the literacy programs
nationwide. Shermah Owenson, chairman and chief executive
officer of B. Dalton, would present the check. Looking
on would be Sette Fenton, our national director for public
affairs and community relations and the literacy initiative.
The second photo would depict the President meeting
with a Miteracy program student and Ms. Fenton. Ms
Penton serves as a volunteer tutor in the literacy
effort. This photo would be used on a poster which
B. Calton will produce and distribute for display in
all our stores, and public libraries in our market
communities across the country. The photo will also
be used with the President's letter in our holiday
book catelog, and it would be used on counter cards
in our stores promoting the literacy effort. Finally,
it would be used on a brochure which will be produced
to promote volunteerism in the literacy program.
CORPORATE CENTER
TRUE HITRO BOULEVARD
MINNEAPOLIS MN 06435
612 393-7000
It's important for us to know if the President
will issue a statement at the photo session
endorsing the B. Dalton National Literacy Initiative
and the overall national literacy effort. We also
need to know in advance if he will accept the check
on behalf of the literacy tutors and students.
We believe that the President is very much interested
in promoting the cause of literacy as a national goal.
As a suggestion, he may wish to address the literacy
issue in a forthcoming Saturday radio talk to the nation.
We would be happy to cooperate with him on this matter
in any way.
We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
therman Swenson
Sherman Swenson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
B. Dalton Bookseller
Bozell & Jacobs Public Relations
B. Dalton
President Reagan Letter for Holiday Catalog Per Literacy Program
Draft Three/8/25/83
November XX, 1983
For Approval
White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear American:
As we enter the holiday season, I hope you will pause to consider
that we enjoy one of life's most important blessings: the abi-
lity to read. I don't have to remind you how important literacy
is to us, for our jobs, our home lives, and as a medium of
pleasure.
Unfortunately, there are an estimated 25 million adult Americans
who Tack basic literacy skills, unable to meet their daily needs.
For many, illiteracy is a secret shame. Millions are functioning
below their potential, ashamed and afraid to admit their skills
are poor. Many more fail to qualify in the job market and edge
into crime or an existence on welfare.
A. solution does exist for a better life. Through local,
volunteer, community-based literacy organizations throughout the
country, these people can learn to read. Anyone with the abi-
lity to read and write can become a volunteer tutor.
If you choose to become a tutor, you will have the opportunity to
work one-to-one with students striving to learn the most basic of
skills -- how to read a street sign, fill out a form, manage a
checkbook, etc. For them, this is a way out of fear and
constant disappointment. As a volunteer tutor explained to me,
"Teaching an adult to read is the same as giving that person a
new life."
I appeal to you to give serious thought to becoming a volunteer
tutor. There is most likely a community literacy program near
you which can provide training, materials and support.
It is the responsibility of all of us to help solve this national
crisis. I applaud the action taken by B. Dalton Bookseller in
contributing an additional $3 million to its National Literacy
Initiative. These funds will support community-based volunteer
literacy programs in geographic areas served by B. Dalton stores.
My Alministration's Office of Private Sector Initiatives and
Secretary Terrel Bell of the U.S. Department of Education have
worked closely with B. Dalton
Please join in this volunteer effort by calling the toll free
literacy volunteer action line, 1-800-
-
.
I wasn - you and your family a happy holiday season. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan
President
United States of America
# # #