In honor of International Literacy Day!
 International Literacy Day - 8 September 2008
"Literacy is the best remedy"
The world commemorates September 8 th as the International Literacy Day. The World Literacy Day was established in 1965 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote literacy all around the world. The day signifies the ongoing commitment of the world community to recognize and support literacy as a key to personal development and to the socio-economic progress of nations.
Literacy is an issue that concerns everybody. Education forms the basis for lifelong learning and influences how we learn and how we acquire skills that help us play a positive role in our society. Research has demonstrated the direct correlation between people's level of literacy and their chances to maintain good health.
The slogan this year: Literacy is the best remedy.
The theme: Literacy is a human right.
Some facts:
According to UNESCO, in the world today:
- There are about 1 billion non-literate adults;
- Women make up two-thirds of all non-literates;
- 94–115 million children worldwide do not have access to education;
- 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out;
- 98 percent of all non-literates live in developing countries;
- 52 percent of all non-literates live in India and China; and
- Africa as a continent has a literacy rate of less than 60 percent.
In order to meet the commitment to increase literacy around the world, UNESCO promotes:
- Literacy for empowerment - not what literacy can do for people but rather what people can do with literacy;
- Literacy for lifelong learning - literacy as a continuous process that requires sustained learning through application and a rich literate environment;
- Literacy and learning societies – programs providing literacy skills which enable citizens to actively participate in public life.
Despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target. Literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal. Lessons learned over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts, but also for renewed efforts and different approaches.
Since literacy is a key tool for the sustainable development of people and communities, libraries have a fundamental role in helping people acquire this essential tool and develop the skills required to use it.
Approximately 23% of adult Floridians cannot read above the 5th grade level. They cannot read road signs, complete job applications, or read stories to their children. In Palm Beach County alone, over 70,000 adults share this problem. In response, the Palm Beach County Library System has been offering special programs like the adult literacy project to help people become literate.
You can help by becoming part of the solution:
- Volunteer to become a tutor to work with English-speaking adults who read and write below a 5th grade level.
- Attend a free, ten-hour Pro-Literacy tutor training workshop.
The best part, no teaching experience is required.
For more information contact the Adult Literacy Project at:
Library Annex
Mil-Lake Plaza,
4639 Lake Worth Road, Lake Worth 33463
Phone: 561-649-5500 (WPB);
1-888-780-5151 (South County and Glades)
outreach@pbclibrary.org
On this World Literacy Day, curl up with your favorite book and a cup of green tea, or spend the day participating in a readathon, or making original books to share with others in the community. Need some ideas?
Visit Idea Starters! International Literacy Day Activities and Events.
Sources:
www.pbclibrary.org
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php
www.nationalliteracycoalition.org
http://education.newkerala.com
www.sil.org/literacy/litfacts.htm
http://en.ca-news.org/news
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