Category: Literacy

World Book Night

April 23 is World Book Night.

wbn16

According to WorldBookNight.org:

World Book Night is an annual celebration of reading and books which takes place on 23 April. It sees passionate volunteers give hundreds of thousands of books away in their communities to share their love of reading with people who, for whatever reason, don’t read for pleasure or own books.

It is run by The Reading Agency – the charity with a mission to give everyone an equal chance to become a reader. Because everything changes when we read…

…World Book Night is about giving books and encouraging those who have lost the love of reading – or are yet to gain it – to pick up a book and read. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph until they too have discovered the power of reading and the opportunities in life that reading can open the door to.

For more information, visit worldbooknight.org

 

World Read Aloud Day

One of the greatest gifts parents can give to their kids is reading aloud to them.  When parents read aloud to their kids, they are helping them grow as literate people.  Not only does it help children learn to read,  more importantly it helps children learn to love reading. When Mom and Dad read aloud to them, they learn that the adults they care about value reading. This is especially important for boys to see from their Fathers.

Reading aloud shouldn’t be limited to children in the primary grades and younger. Keep reading aloud to your kids for as long as they live at home! Make it a family activity.  When they are fluent enough readers, let them take turns reading aloud. High school kids, ask your parents and teachers to read aloud.

Teachers need to remember this too.  Many teachers, even in high school, still take opportunities to read aloud to their students.  It can be an incredibly powerful experience for people of all ages.

wrad16

“World Read Aloud Day is an awareness day advocating for literacy as a right that belongs to all people, celebrated around the world annually on the first Wednesday in March. Worldwide at least 793 million people remain illiterate. Two-thirds of them are women. LitWorld is changing that.Every year on the first Wednesday of March, World Read Aloud Day calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories. WRAD motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words and creates a community of readers taking action to show the world that the right to literacy belongs to all people. By raising our voices together on this day we show the world’s children that we support their future: that they have the right to read, to write, and to share their stories. Read Aloud. Change the World.” (Source: litworld.org)

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 CAPP hours. For more information, check out surreylibraries.ca.  You can download an application form there. You can also contact the Youth Services Librarian at the Cloverdale Library to ask questions, and to apply.

The Orientation and Training Session at the Cloverdale Library takes place in March. Spots fill up fast, so get your application in right away!

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 9:27 t0 9:46.   Be sure to take advantage of this valuable time to read something that you enjoy.

DEAR2015The BCTLA is a Provincial Specialist Association of the BC Teachers’ Federation.

Banned Books Week

BBW-logoSeptember 21-27 is Banned Books Week in the United States, as established by the American Library Association. We can observe it in Canada too.  We live in a society where we believe everyone should learn to read, that reading is important, and that people should have the right to read what they want to read.  So many of our fundamental rights and freedoms are represented in the fight for educated, literate citizens to have control over what they read.  Sadly, our society also has powerful forces that work against those freedoms.  Sometimes those countering forces are well-meaning, hoping to protect us from lies, hate, propaganda and such. Sometimes these countering forces are even necessary, as we seek to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate material.  Yet a free and vital democracy requires that individuals, not the state, determine what is acceptable reading material and what is not acceptable. Parents must be able to protect their children from the mistakes of society, yet the state must also protect children from the mistakes of their parents. There are no easy answers in all this, yet that is not a reason to shy away from this vital issue.

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 CAPP hours. For more information, check out surreylibraries.ca.  You can download an application form there. You can also contact the Youth Services Librarian at the Cloverdale Library to ask questions, and to apply.

The Orientation and Training Session at the Cloverdale Library takes place on September 23, so get your application in right away!

International Literacy Day

ILD15International Literacy Day, traditionally observed annually on September 8, focuses attention on worldwide literacy needs. According the the UN, “Education brings   sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of   all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world   and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also   to strengthen their cultural identity.”

For more information on International Literacy Day, click here

World Book Night

April 23 is World Book Night.

source: worldbooknight.org

 

According to the WorldBookNight.org:

World Book Night is an annual celebration of reading and books which takes place on 23 April. It sees passionate volunteers give hundreds of thousands of books away in their communities to share their love of reading with people who, for whatever reason, don’t read for pleasure or own books.

It is run by The Reading Agency – the charity with a mission to give everyone an equal chance to become a reader. Because everything changes when we read…

…World Book Night is about giving books and encouraging those who have lost the love of reading – or are yet to gain it – to pick up a book and read. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph until they too have discovered the power of reading and the opportunities in life that reading can open the door to.

For more information, visit worldbooknight.org

 

Freedom to Read Week

What do the following titles have in common?

harry mock rye tale bibl orig

munroAll of these are titles which have been challenged.  Somewhere in Canada in the past 30 years, individuals or groups have tried to have these books removed from schools, libraries and bookstores.  The list of challenged authors includes Canadian Alice Munro, the 2013 Nobel Laureate for Literature.

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 CAPP hours. For more information, check out surreylibraries.ca.  You can download an application form there. You can also contact the Youth Services Librarian at the Cloverdale Library to ask questions, and to apply.

The Orientation and Training Session at the Cloverdale Library takes place on March 25.