Literacy: not a laughing matter, but a human one
International Literacy Day is the perfect moment to reflect on the ways we can all support reading for everyone.
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A light-hearted news piece did the rounds online recently when council road painters misspelt the word ‘school’ on the markings outside a Brighton academy, becoming an amusing meme in the midst of new term frenzy.
But the report shared by the National Literacy Trust in the week leading up to this year’s International Literacy Day didn’t make for such fun reading, revealing that one in five children in the UK don’t own a book of their own.
Is there a link between the two stories? Probably not – even the most well-read people make mistakes. But it’s hard to miss the irony of a population which expects literacy in its workforce and yet doesn’t value the simple, literacy-driving act of reading for pleasure.
On International Literacy Day, we like to share with our customers the many ways that they help us to support reading for everyone. Of course, there are quantifiable figures and impact reports; but human stories demonstrate the impact of reading for pleasure in a way that numbers simply cannot.
Stories of children like 8-year-old Ezekiel, whose extensive hospital stays have been made that little bit brighter by Read for Good’s book trolleys and storytellers; or 14-year-old Francisca, for whom books are both a means to fighting injustice in her home of rural Ghana, and her best friends.
When the numbers of people lacking the opportunity to read sound insurmountable, human stories remind us that small acts can create big change, especially to those directly impacted. A child might take part in a sponsored Readathon, and help send books to children ill in hospital; a company might choose our charity gift card for their employee rewards, and add to the nearly £15,000 we’ve already given to Book Aid International to help them deliver books to in-need communities overseas.
Simply giving a National Book Token to a booklover helps us support these charities and continue our sponsorship of World Book Day, whose mission is to ensure that every child in the UK and Ireland has the chance to have a book of their own. Because reading truly is for everyone.
Written by Lisa Bywater