As poverty levels increase, education levels decrease (Chart 8). National statistics show that the gap occured among the asian community since both highest and lowest educated group are higher than the Whites (Chart 9). A similar phenomenon also applied to the household income study (Chart 10). Enhancing educational opportunities for school-aged Asian children, who are the poorest population, will mean improving library services available to this group.

As extensions of the public education system, libraries offer a way to "fill in the gaps" in learning. Most libraries provide:

• Books, reference materials, magazines, online databases and other publications
• Space for community meetings or for school children to do their homework
• Research assistance and tutorial services
• Free access to the Internet (This is a very important resource for school-aged children, particularly Asian children, most of whom fall way below the poverty line) (Chart 7).

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Chart 7

Chart 8

Chart 9

Chart 10