In practically all countries, the governing bodies seem to be conscious of the important role the ability to read well plays in all educational activities. But the tremendous demand for education has far outpaced the supply. Since World War II, many new self-governing countries have been established of which most are illiterate. Since democracy in a real sense cannot be maintained in societies where the citizens are not even able to read a ballot form, there is also a strong political demand for improving reading ability. However, the number of adult illiterates is increasing at an enormous rate and educational progress has not been enough to keep pace with the rapid population growth. Whereas a new book is published every minute in the world today, book production is very unevenly spread around the world. Too, literacy campaigns in various parts of the world still seem to be based largely on a primer or series of elementary textbooks and some simple workbooks. The literacy program is often considered to be completed when the student has learned the alphabet and gone through the primers. The statistics on literacy in the world today should be viewed in light of the fact that there is a continuous evolution occurring everywhere with regard to definitions of literacy. Some mass campaigns aimed at the eradication of illiteracy have had remarkable success in some parts of the world; nevertheless there is still a great need for cross national comparative studies of different methods of reading instruction. A cooperative goal among countries should be efficient reading ability for at least 90% of the adult population in 90% of the various nations by 1990. (HOD)