Thursday, October 29, 2015

ALA to launch Libraries Transform public awareness campaig

ALA to launch Libraries Transform public awareness campaign
ALA News: 10.23.2015 by Macey Morales, Deputy Director-Public Awareness Office

On October 29, American Library Association (ALA) President Sari Feldman will officially launch Libraries Transform, a national public awareness campaign that will highlight the transformative nature of our nation’s libraries and elevate the critical role libraries play in the digital age.  READ MORE !

THE LIBRARIES TRANSFORM CAMPAIGN
Designed to increase public awareness of the value, impact and services provided by libraries and library professionals, the Libraries Transform campaign will ensure there is one clear, energetic voice for our profession. Showcasing the transformative nature of today’s libraries and elevating the critical role libraries play in the digital age.

The Center for the Future of Libraries works to identify trends relevant to libraries and librarianship. New trends will be added as they are developed.


National & International Literacy & Library Events: November 2015

National & International Literacy & Library Events
November 2015

SCLLN
Literacy & Library Events & Conferences
- Local, California and National -
the Southern California Library Literacy Network
for more information


Nov. 2  Global Read Aloud- THE OK BOOK   #gra15
Nov. 2+ Health Literacy Research Conference, Washington DC
Nov. 5+ ALER 2015 Conference, Costa Mesa CA
Nov. 6+ Young Adult Services Symposium, Portland OR   #YALSA15
Nov. 7+ Book Riot Live, NYC
Nov. 8+ Children’s Illustration Celebration, Northampton MA
Nov. 8    Norton Juster Award for Devotion to Literacy, Northampton MA 4p
Nov. 9    Global Read Aloud - any Amy Krouse Rosenthal Book   #gra15
Nov. 9+  Young Readers Week
Nov. 13+ YallFest, Charleston SC   #YALLFest
Nov. 14+ Connecticut Children's Book Fair, University of Connecticut
Nov. 14+ National Quality Education Conference, Houston TX
Nov. 14    Autism Sensory Friendly Films – PEANUTS 10a
Nov. 15+ Literacy for ALL: Advocacy, Libraries, and Literacy, Providence RI
Nov. 16+ Global Education Conference  Cyberspace   #globaled15
Nov. 16+ IMLS Focus Conference, New Orleans LA   #IMLSFocus
Nov. 17+ AAACE Annual Conference, Oklahoma City OK
Nov. 18+ Getting In Touch With Literacy, Albuquerque NM   #GITWL
Nov. 18+ NAEYC Annual Conference, Orlando FL   #naeycAC
Nov. 19+ National Council of Teachers of English, Minneapolis MN   #NCTE15
Nov. 19    National Writing Project Conference, Minneapolis MN   #NWP
Nov. 20+ ACTFL Convention, San Diego CA
Nov. 21   International Gaming Day @ Your Library   #igd15
Nov. 21   Tellabration (Saturday before Thanksgiving) Nationwide
Nov. 26+ Great Thanksgiving Listen - storycorps.org   #TheGreatListen


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners 2015 :: First Book, United Through Reading, and Beanstalk

Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners for 2015 Announced
Recipients Are First Book, United Through Reading, and Beanstalk

Acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao today announced the recipients of the 2015 Library of Congress Literacy Awards, a program originated and sponsored by philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. The Literacy Awards, first announced in January 2013, help support organizations working to alleviate the problems of illiteracy and aliteracy in the United States and worldwide. The awards highlight and reward organizations that do exemplary, innovative and easily replicable work. In conjunction with the awards presentation and its annual Best Practices publication and related programming, the Library of Congress encourages new groups, organizations and individuals to become involved. A formal presentation of the awards will take place next spring.

The recipients are:
David M. Rubenstein Prize ($150,000): First Book
First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that works to further educational equity by tackling the scarcity of books and educational resources for millions of children growing up in low-income families in the United States and Canada. Through its growing network, currently numbering nearly 200,000 schools, libraries, after-school programs, social-service organizations and other groups serving children in need, First Book has provided more than 135 million books for children ages 0-18 since its inception 23 years ago.

The American Prize ($50,000): United Through Reading
To help active military personnel stay involved in their children’s literacy development, United Through Reading unites military families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together. The nonprofit organization films service members reading storybooks and sends the video recordings and the books home to their families. The program is based on research showing that reading aloud to children is a key factor in their acquisition of literacy skills.

The International Prize ($50,000): Beanstalk
Beanstalk is a volunteer-based literacy organization that provides one-on-one support to children ages 6 to 11. Teachers refer children to Beanstalk when they are struggling with reading in the classroom and could benefit from enhanced support. Volunteer tutors work consistently with their assigned children, meeting twice a week for the entire school year to read, play and talk together.  READ MORE !

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Literacy – Spanning North America: Prince Edward Co VA :: Altus OK :: Dawson Creek BC :: Topeka & Shawnee Co KS


Literacy issues in the Farmville community
The Rotunda: 9.17.2015 by Jessica Darst

There is a strong presence of illiteracy in the Farmville area even though there are many programs that offer literacy education.

According to the Virginia Historical Society, after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, a resistance built within the South to prevent integration.

In Virginia, the governor closed public schools across the state to stop integration. In 1959, the courts ruled that the closings were unconstitutional, and all schools reopened except for those in Prince Edward County.

For five years, Prince Edward schools remained closed, leaving about 1,700 black and lower-income white students to either find another school outside the county or to wait at home for five years.

As a result, many of the students who were denied an education at that time grew up without ever being able to obtain an education. Some students were able to get their GED or went to the Free School, which was set up by the Farmville community.

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The Central Virginia Regional Library, which consists of Farmville and Buckingham counties, offers adult literacy programs for Buckingham but not for Farmville. However, the Farmville Library does consistently offer programs for children.  READ MORE !

Constitution Week Observed Year Round for Literacy Learners
Altus Times: 9.17.2015 by Ida Fay Winters, - GPLC Coordinator

Observance of Constitution Week will run from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23. The Great Plains Literacy Council adult learners wanting citizenship must study about the Constitution. Not only during this week, but throughout the year, those immigrants study about the American government, democracy, and our freedoms covered in the Constitution, the most important document in the United States. The U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787 and is also known as a “living document” because it grows and changes as America and its people grow and change.

The Immigration and Citizenship LSTA grant with the Great Plains Literacy Council and Southern Prairie Library System has provided tutoring opportunities for immigrants desiring naturalization in the United States. One literacy learner Sergio Lopez took advantage of the free resources from the USCIS and literacy tutoring through the Great Plains Literacy Council at the Altus Public Library and recently returned to express his appreciation and return some of the study materials. Sergio is thankful for his assistance through the process. Aleida Burchett became his first tutor in May 2014. Then Steve Francis gave guidance with his study.

When asked why he wanted to become a US citizen, Sergio replied, “This was something I just wanted to do since I lived here.” He was the first one of his family members, who were born in Mexico, to get the citizenship.  READ MORE !

Increasing adult literacy in the South Peace
NorthEast News: 9.18.2015

Michele Mobley, Literacy Outreach Coordinator for Literacy Now at the Dawson Creek Literacy Society, was in attendance of the city council meeting on September 14 to help proclaim September as Literacy is Life Month in Dawson Creek.

More than 500,000 adults between the ages of 16 and 64 in B.C. have significant issues with literacy, Mobley told council.

This number represents about 16 per cent of the province’s population, she said.

Further, Mobley said that adults with low literacy skills are 2.5 times more likely to experience poor health and higher rates of absence from work.

“With higher literacy levels we see healthier and more resilient communities,” Mobley said, “a more productive and engaged community, and a more progressive and inclusive community, because literacy is health.”  READ MORE !

HUSH Library Podcast #80 – Learning About Literacy
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library: 9.18.2015 by Lissa Staley

In this episode, Librarian Deb Bryan inspires and educates when shares stories and she talks about adult literacy, the unexpected challenges of financial, digital or health literacy, and the local organizations ready to help adults boost their literacy skills.  Podcast #80

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Codfather of Literacy Sites – Codpast

The codfather of literacy sites – Codpast
agent4change: 9.06.2015 by Sal McKeown

Sal McKeown meets a dyslexic educator with no time to waste – Sean Douglas
I have just come across a brilliant site for adults with dyslexia. A Google alert flagged up that a site called The Codpast was reviewing and giving away some copies of one of my favourite apps, ClaroSpeak Plus.

"Assistive technology is game changing," says the site's director Sean Douglas. "Speed is of the essence. I am a very fast touch typist and I don't want anything to hold me back." He set up The Codpast (Podcast for the non-dyslexic among you), an online resource with videos, podcasts and articles for students and adults with dyslexia.

Sean has dyslexia and faces many of the same problems experienced by others and so is well placed to offer advice: :I spell things wrong, miss words out. I can’t imagine life without text-to-speech. I now use my iPad more and more, so jumped at the chance to try out the ClaroSpeak Plus app for the iPad. It's very good because it reads straight away when you insert the cursor whereas with others you have to highlight the text. I like the fact that when I type a full stop it reads the whole sentence so I can check it makes sense."

Well developed visual skills but unaware of help for dyslexia

Sean has very well developed visual skills. He studied at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communications in Bromley. "I knew I was dyslexic from high school," he said, "but didn’t realise that this was something I could ask for help with I thought you would only be given help if teachers deemed it was necessary."

He has gone on to have a successful career in the media industry. He worked for BBC News as a cameraman/editor covering a large part of Yorkshire: "Dyslexia was not really a problem because I have good skills in other areas," he explained. "I have really good map reading skills and can remember routes once I have seen a map."  READ MORE !

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Literacy – Spanning North America: Ottawa ON :: Bryan TX :: Menlo Park CA :: Montgomery AL

Free Literacy Program Helping People in Bryan
KAGSTV.com: 9.16.2015  VIDEO

For Celeste Morgan, learning English isn't easy.

She grew up speaking Spanish, but she now works for a preschool in Bryan, where knowing English is a must.

"I want to be better with my language and it's very hard,” she said. “I listen to English, you know, and I live in the country.”

It’s one of the reasons, why she chose to participate in a local program.

The Bryan library system is giving people a much needed tool to improve their quality of life.  

Through donations from the Dollar General Foundation and The Institute of Museum and Library services, adults can receive free English lessons.

The family literacy librarian at Clara B. Mounce Library says 75 people are enrolled in the ESL class.  READ MORE !

Resolution promotes area literacy
Nearly 14,000 adults in the Montgomery area are reading at a second grade level or below and a resolution signed by Mayor Todd Strange on Wednesday hopes to bring awareness to the need for literacy.

The resolution, sponsored through the Capital Area Adult Literacy Council marks next week, Sept. 20-26 as the National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week in Montgomery.

“An educated community can be lots of things,” Strange said. “Like full service community schools. If we can get the Capital Area Adult Literacy Council into schools, we can reach students’ parents, or guardians who can take advantage of GED opportunities.”

For 30 years, the council has been helping those in the Montgomery improve their writing and has helped more than 5,000 people improve their reading and writing for job employment and personal betterment. They have also trained more than 3,000 volunteers.  READ MORE !

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Understanding Your Health Literacy :: WBIR

Health Literacy: Understanding your health
WBIR: 10.05.2015  VIDEO


Kelsey Leonard, a health information librarian at UT Medical Center explains the importance of understanding health information for Health Literacy Month.  VIDEO

Understanding Health Literacy
Health Information Center:  11.13.2014

What is health literacy and why is it important? Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions and services needed to prevent or treat illness”.

According to Health and Human Services (HHS), having low health literacy can affect the ability to do things such as:

•Fill out complex forms
•Share personal information such as health history
•Get important screening tests
•Manage a chronic disease
•Understand how to take medicines

In 2010, the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion released a National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. The plan aimed "to stimulate a society wide movement to make the vision of a health literate America a reality".

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Literacy – Spanning the US: Stanislaus Co CA :: Bergen Co NJ :: Hancock Co OH :: Green Bay WI


Cornell said more than 85 percent of Literacy Green Bay’s clientele are English-language learners, who typically are placed in classes offered at the agency before they are assigned to a tutor. Others who turn to Literacy Green Bay are pursuing a GED or enrolled in a family literacy program that involves literacy education for adults as well as their children.  READ MORE !