Taking a Step to Fight for the Future

photo © 2008 Adrian Clark | more info (via: Wylio)


Last night when I couldn't sleep, I wrote a letter to the president in my head. I'm not exactly sure why I felt this was the best use of my restless not-sleeping minutes, but I felt really fired up about it. It was, in my head, a gorgeous piece of really informed writing and a passionate plea for the preservation of literacy. I have strong feelings about literacy, because of my past work with adults who struggle to read and the way it's so easily discarded by our governments terrifies me. I'm not kidding. Of course my whole world view--everything that I am is so sharply defined by my ability to read and my easy access to reading material. Not just books, but blogs, and news, and magazines. I have always been a curious and voracious reader and in my adult years I have been very open to letting what I read impact and change me.

Reading for leisure is not a value that needs to be shared by everyone, but in our first world society, I do feel being able to read with ease and efficiency is a fundamental right. Not being able to read or even struggling to read puts an individual at a severe disadvantage. Furthermore, it puts their children at the same disadvantage because valuing reading in the home is an important step in one's reading development. Being able to read with ease greatly raises an individual's chances at succeeding in school and finding a career or job that will satisfy them.

I would love for our country to come up with more practical ways we can all pitch in and ensure that our children are provided with books, that they are read to, and that they are shown that reading is a key to unlocking more possible futures than anything else. To me it is vital we rescue our libraries because information is a right for all. We must fight to put books in the hands of children and let them discover for themselves how wonderful it is. The only future way out of our current dark times is to prioritize education.

As silly and impossible as it seems, I think I will try to write my letter to the president and then to every other politician I can think of. So often I feel paralyzed in my inability to offer concrete help to this problem that looms larger every day. I often feel jaded and cynical about our government and political process but maybe I should exercise my own right and participate in my own way more. Maybe I need to make my own words just a little bit more solid and more permanently a record of my generation's and my online blogging community's effort to save a culture of literacy and a future of our children...ALL children not just those with parents who care about reading.

Will you join me?

Why Adult Literacy Matters To Us All

We talk about literacy a lot in the book blogosphere especially as it pertains to children. There's an entire dedicated group of bloggers, frequently referred to as the kidlitosphere, that is especially committed to spreading the word about literacy issues for children. I am so grateful for their tireless efforts and I think they are doing a phenomenal job.

But I think something we don't talk about as much is adult literacy. I feel a bit to blame for this, actually, since I've worked in adult literacy for four years now. Before I worked with adults who struggle with their reading skills, I never really thought about being an adult and not being able to read. Not only not being able to read, but not being able to read well. And I can only imagine that there are many others who don't think about this either.

But the truth is that there are many adult who have low to no reading skills. And this matters. It impacts us all and it impacts our children. So while I really really believe in preventative measures against illiteracy with children, I also believe that it's never too late for anyone. Adults can still to learn to read and it can change their lives.

Why does adult literacy matter to children's literacy?

*Because adults are parents who will or will not read aloud to their young children.
*Because adults are parents who will decide how important books and reading are in a household.
*Because adults are parents who will help their children with their homework.
*Because adults are people who can demonstrate that reading is to be enjoyed and books are to be loved.

I bring this up now, because I read about a new initiative by Christian fiction author Melanie Wells called I Told Two Friends. Basically, they are encouraging you to buy two copies of her book, My Soul to Keep (which is a great creepy read) and give them to two friends and tell them about the campaign. The idea is that they'll do the same. 100% of the author's profits from the books will go to the group Pro Literacy. Is this the best way to raise money for the cause of adult literacy? I don't know, but I admire that she's doing something!

Here's the official blurb from the site:

I Told Two Friends is an online campaign led by Dallas author, Melanie Wells, to rally book lovers to help fight adult illiteracy. Readers are invited to join our effort to raise $100,000 for the cause by purchasing Melanie Wells’ novel, My Soul To Keep, and encouraging two friends do the same. 100% of the author’s profits will go to ProLiteracy, an international non-profit whose mission is to end adult illiteracy worldwide.

Tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on and so on … and help thousands of eager adults learn to read this sentence. Be part of the solution!

Go check out the I Told Two Friends website...and get involved! If you don't participate in this particular campaign just remember that adult literacy is an issue for all of us...and not just because of our children. But because everyone deserves the chance to one day read a novel and fall in love with it.

I feel inspired by an author trying to raise her voice about this...I hope you will doubly enjoy the blessing it was to be able to read this blog post today. :)

Catching Up

If I don't Comment...
First of all, my work life is undergoing some major changes that were kind of a big surprise to us all. So for the next little while, I may not be around a lot as my schedule suddenly got really full. Not to worry, though, I worked hard this weekend to preschedule posts for you! :)

The Love Fest Continues..
Secondly, I was really thrilled to receive this very cute award from two wonderful bloggers.




The award says: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

For some reason that makes me laugh. But many thanks to Lynda and Wendi for thinking of me and wanting to be my friend!! :)

And, because my sincere hope is that everyone who reads my blog sees me as a friend, I am passing it on to all of you who read! Thank you so much!

I was also thrilled to be awarded the Premio Dardos from Seekerville. Just in case you don't know, that is one awesome blog for writers. The company they put me in honors me very much! Thank you Seekers! I love your blog!



Promoting Literacy
Also, regarding my Sunday Salon post about reading aloud...I think what I'll do is post once a month with what efforts I have made (on my own time) towards the promotion of literacy. I'll include a Mr. Linky and if you have also decided to make a more conscious effort to promote literacy you can share in comments or write a post on your blog and link up. I'll put this post up on the last day of each month. I hope that our wondeful enthusiasm will be so infectious that the entire blogosphere will join in. I can dream, right?

The Sunday Salon -- The Importance of Reading to Our Kids

I do read some of the blogs in the kidlitosphere and this week they have been discussing how very few families read aloud to their children. There have been discussions about how they can raise awareness of the importance of reading aloud. Because I have worked with adults for the past few years who have minimal reading skills, I think I come at this from a different angle.

Until I was confronted with the reality that some people really struggle to read, I always thought of reading as a preference. I like to read, or I don't like to read. Sort of like, I like brussel sprouts or I don't like brussel sprouts! It's not really like that, though. Preference plays a very small role..ability plays a huge one. The program I've been working in for the last three years takes a very different approach to reading. And while it's made huge differences in the lives of people everywhere, it's not exactly mainstream or accepted yet. If you want to know more about it, please email me privately.

Anyway, while I could go off on a complete tangent about that, I would rather focus on the role this plays in reading aloud. First, I think we need to look at what the goals of reading aloud are.

1) Literacy. By reading aloud to our kids, we hope that they will develop the desire to read for themselves. They see what adventures can be found in books, what knowledge, entertainment, and connection. By reading aloud to them on a regular basis, we hope they see that reading is a natural and important part of life. In fact, I think before they can read for themselves, kids like books. I've never met a pre-reader (I'm sure there's a technical name for that) that didn't like books. It's when they get to the reading for themselves stage that it gets more difficult.

2) Education. We often use books to communicate life values and truth. By reading aloud, we can pass this information on to our children often wrapped in the beauty of story.

3) Family Time Reading aloud to our children is a special time of bonding as we share the delights of story with them.

4) Modeling Not only are we modeling a life of reading, we are modeling good reading. This is so completely essential to the point I'm going to make. In order for kids to understand what reading for themselves is like, they need to hear smooth effortless reading for themselves, so they can conceptualize what reading is like.

So, enter the parent who struggles to read themselves. Even picking up a children's book, geared to the very earliest readers is a struggle for them. They go about their lives doing everything they can not to have to read. Do you think that by sharing President Obama's love of reading with his daughters or telling them that it's important to read their kids is really and truly going to change anything?

I'm here to tell you that it will accomplish nothing but to make them feel guilty. A lifetime of struggling to read has already depleted their self-confidence and they are truly embarrassed to even think of reading aloud to their children. Oh they want to! But after spending a long day at work, the last thing they are thinking about is engaging in an activity that traditionally has:
1) Been very difficult for them and
2) Is a source of embarrassment and shame

Furthermore, say they do decide to read their kids. What they will be modeling to their children is that reading is a chore. And that's the last message we want to send.
And this is where I think that avid book readers and the delightful book blogging community can jump in. Why should the kidlit bloggers have all the fun?

I think part of the solution is for us to get out of our comfort zones and find ways to get involved in programs that will give us the opportunity to read aloud to children. This is something I've personally wanted to do for a long time. While it has been fantastic to help adults improve their reading, part of me itches to do preventative work! The problem for me is that I work 8-5. Most school programs are concluded by the time I'm able to do anything. If anyone has any ideas on this, please let me know!

So, what I'd like for us to do (if anyone is willing) is brainstorm together how we can get involved in our communities and do volunteer reading. And I'd like to challenge all of you who love to read yourselves to think of how you can donate a couple of hours a week to this very worthy goal. If enough people express interest, we could possibly turn this into a campaign. Maybe set up a separate blog where we can share our experiences and point out programs other people can get involved in. This is an issue I don't think we can ignore any longer. Our culture of literacy depends on our active participation and support. Is anyone in?

Is Your City Literate?

I came across this ranking of the most literate of the big cities in the United States and was sad to see that the major cities near me did not make the list, though my hometown of St. Louis most certainly did! (yay for St. Louis!)

The top ten are:

Minneapolis and Seattle (tie)

3. Washington, D.C.

4. St. Paul

5. San Francisco

6. Atlanta

7. Denver

8. Boston

9. St. Louis

10. Cincinnati and Portland, Ore. (tie)

Read the article to see how they ranked. What do you think? I think it's interesting that in cities with a high number of bookstores, online book buying is also high. I also think I need to move to one of these cities. Southern California....what's up?!?