About $6.9 million in grants from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund will be used to boost various adult literacy programs throughout the country.

The foundation reports that $3.5 million will go to enhancing literacy programs already in place at 15 libraries across the country. The libraries -- located in California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina -- will each get between $175,000 and $315,000.

In addition, the Illinois Literacy Resource Development Center will get $800,000 over three years to provide technical assistance to these libraries.

The Educational Development Center in New York will get $1.3 million over two years to extend the reach of its television series "TV 411." The series -- developed by the Adult Literacy Media Alliance -- teaches reading to adults who don't have access to other types of literacy initiatives. The series began in 1998 and is available on videocassette.

New York-based Literacy Partners Inc. will get $1.25 million over three years for its What Works Literacy Partnership, a nationwide network of literacy programs. These programs finds ways to make literacy efforts more effective.

Also, the National Institute for Literacy in Washington, D.C., will get $75,000 over two years to aid literacy and educational groups such as the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy and the U.S. Department of Education. The consortium will hold a Washington, D.C. literacy summit in February 2000.

The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund invests in programs that work to make the arts and culture a part of their communities.

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