Category: Literacy

Election Day

Canadians go to the polls today to to elect our federal government. Voting is just one aspect of the democratic system, but it is a vital one. Canadians must cherish the right to vote, and must accept the serious responsibility to vote. It is the responsibility of each citizen in a democracy to get informed, think critically, and exercise the right to vote.

(Source: CC (Daro))

Our students are too young to vote now, but they will be eligible for the elections of the near future. And yet even without voting, our students are participants in the democratic system. High school is important for many different reasons. None is more important that preparing our kids to take on the responsibilities of democratic citizenship.  We want our kids to be Canadians that exercise, celebrate, and protect their rights as citizens in a democracy.

Libraries, including Public Libraries and School Libraries, can play a vital part in the equipping of our students for democratic citizenship.  Canadians must have access to reliable sources of information. Just as importantly, Canadians must be information literate. They must have the tools to be able to recognize unreliable sources, including disinformation, fake news, propaganda, etc.  They must be able to have confidence in recognizing and using reliable information to think critically and to make educated decisions about the issues facing our country, our cities, our neighbourhoods, and our world.

October is International School Library Month
and Canadian Library Month.

Invest in Libraries

“The conservative, careful and fiscally responsible path to improving literacy is by investing in libraries and librarians.”

–Stephen Krashen

October is International School Library Month
and Canadian Library Month.

 

 

Banned Books Week

From the American Libarary Association:

Banned Books Week (September 22-28, 2019) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Reading Buddies

The Reading Buddies program at the Surrey Public Library is looking for volunteer reading buddies. Reading Buddies is a great volunteer opportunity where you can develop your mentorship skills. Being a “big buddy” is a rewarding experience, and counts towards service hours. For more information, check out surreylibraries.ca.  You can download an application form. You can also contact the Youth Services Librarian at the Cloverdale Library to ask questions, and to apply.

Drop Everything and Read

Drop Everything and Read on October 23

The BCTLA, in conjunction with the BCTF, has again challenged YOU and all the people of British Columbia to take time on Monday to “Drop Everything and Read.”  Set aside your studies, your work, your social media feeds and everything else that keeps you from spending some time reading. Read for at least 20 minutes on Monday. Read for at least 20 minutes EVERY DAY.

Read for fun. Read to learn something you are interested in. Read to escape.  Read to laugh. Read to be scared.  Read for inspiration. Read because you are interested. Read to know more. Read for your own reasons.

Turn off the phone for a while. Texts, emails, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter– all that can wait.  Find somewhere quiet and comfortable. Concentrate.  Stick with it.  Read deeply.  Think. Enjoy.

 

Colm Cille

irishsavedIf you haven’t yet read How the Irish Saved Civilization, put it on your reading list! Author Thomas Cahill tells some remarkable stories from the era that he calls one of the “hinges of history.”  Cahill makes the case that ideas that came from the Greeks, the Romans and the Jews, ideas that are among the foundational ideas of our civilization, were on the edge of an abyss, possibly to be lost forever. If not for the Irish, our civilization, at least civilization as we know it today, may have slipped away forever.  Read it for yourself and see what you think.

One of the remarkable figures that jumps off the pages is Colm Cille.  Known also as Saint Columba in the Roman Catholic Church, Colm Cille was one of those Irishman who inspired the notion that Ireland is the land of “Saints and Scholars.”  In a world of darkness, Colm Cille helped to bring light.

Fifteen hundred years ago, in the wake of a terrible battle, full of remorse, St. Colmcille left Ireland for Scotland. On the remote island of Iona he began a new life and helped create a new world. The beautiful manuscripts he and his followers produced helped spread not only Christianity but ideas about literacy, peace-making and nation-building, not to mention punctuation! His followers became missionaries, builders, teachers. It’s no exaggeration to say that these men from the North of Ireland rebuilt Europe. (source: The Return of Colmcille)

Columba

Read more about Colm Cille:

Drop Everything and Read

The DEAR Challenge has been issued by the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association, to all the people of this province, to Drop Everything and Read. Join with people from all walks of life around BC to celebrate the value of reading.  While most will stop at 11:oo for 20 Minutes of Silent Reading, stop whenever you can today for some SSR.  At Lord Tweedsmuir we have an SSR period each day from 9:25 to 9:44.   Be sure to take advantage of this valuable time to read something that you enjoy.

dear2016The BCTLA is a Provincial Specialist Association of the BC Teachers’ Federation.

October is ISLM: International School Library Month!

October is International School Library Month.  All over the world, people are recognizing and celebrating the powerful role that school libraries play in education. Come on in to the School Library at LTS, and continue to check back online, for more on our local celebration of International School Library Month!

ISLMonthLarge

Banned Books Week

bannedbooks2016September 25 to October 1st is Banned Books Week in the United States. We in Canada can join with our neighbours in celebrating the freedom to read and acknowledging the ongoing struggle against censorship and other forces that attack our freedom.

For more information on Banned Books Week:

 

Reading Buddies

The Reading Buddies program at the Surrey Public Library is looking for volunteer reading buddies. Reading Buddies is a great volunteer opportunity where you can develop your mentorship skills. Being a “big buddy” is a rewarding experience, and counts towards service hours. For more information, check out surreylibraries.ca.  You can download an application form. You can also contact the Youth Services Librarian at the Cloverdale Library to ask questions, and to apply.

International Literacy Day

ild2016September 8, 2016 marks the 50th Anniversary of International Literacy Day as declared by UNESCO and the United Nations.

The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all.  (Source: UNESCO)

Find out more: