What biblical basis is there for written records being kept around Jesus's time I'm wondering if there is any historical information or biblical references that describe the ability to write and record information around the time of Jesus and his disciples.  I.e. to what extent were they able to record what happened at that time?
In Luke 4, Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  Jesus had not received the training of a priest or Pharisee.  He was the son of a carpenter.  So, it seems that this would indicate that literacy was not restricted to the ruling class of the priestly class.

Jesus challenged the Pharisees at one point, saying, "Have you never read...?"  

Jesus may also have been writing actual words in the dirt in John 8 and the woman caught in adultery, though this is admittedly speculation.

Paul also indicates that he wrote letters with his own hand.  Of course he had been a Pharisee.  

In older times, Moses commanded the people in Deuteronomy 6 to observe the law and to write it on the door frames of your houses.  This seems to assume the ability to write.

The king of Israel was commanded to write for himself a copy of the law and read it all the days of his life.

I could go on, but it seems there is significant evidence to support the idea that literacy was not uncommon among the Jewish people at the time of Christ.