The National Assessment of Adult Literacy’s data for Wilkes County shows that at least 15 percent of our population ranks “Below Basic” in literacy levels, meaning one in seven adults in Wilkes County lacks the lowest, most basic level literacy skills (less than 5th grade level). Wilkes Literacy offers free, private, personalized instruction for adults in Wilkes County who wish to improve their reading and writing skills. The agency provides free ESL services for Wilkes County residents and GED program support. Wilkes Literacy current serves adult students both in-person and virtually through the Zoom platform. A nationally recognized adult basic education curriculum and health literacy curriculum is used in this program.