Here's a source for my claim of a deeper meaning for literacy.   
  
Usage Note: For most of its long history in English, literate has meant only=  
 =93familiar with literature,=94 or more generally, =93well-educated,=  
 learned.=94 Only since the late 19th century has it also come to refer to=  
 the basic ability to read and write. Its antonym illiterate has an equally=  
 broad range of meanings: an illiterate person may be incapable of reading a=  
 shopping list or unable to grasp an allusion to Shakespeare or Keats. The=  
 term functional illiterate is often used to describe a person who can read=  
 or write to some degree, but below a minimum level required to function in=  
 even a limited social situation or job setting. An aliterate person, by=  
 contrast, is one who is capable of reading and writing but who has little=  
 interest in doing so, whether out of indifference to learning in general or=  
 from a preference for seeking information and entertainment by other means.=  
 =B7More recently, the meanings of the words literacy and illiteracy have=  
 been extended from their original connection with reading and literature to=  
 any body of knowledge. For example, =93geographic illiterates=94 cannot=  
 identify the countries on a map, and =93computer illiterates=94 are unable=  
 to use a word-processing system. All of these uses of literacy and=  
 illiteracy are acceptable.  
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=3Dliterate  
  
  
Humberto Barreto