LISNews: Librarian News

"Literacy is not an end in itself. It is a fundamental human right." (UNESCO, 1975). It is linked to other fundamental rights--rights that are universal, indivisible, interconnected and interdependent.
Becoming literate involves much more than language use and singular routes to language acquisition. It calls literate beings to recognize socio-political contexts of teaching and learning, image multiple possibilities for literate activity, and act as agents of change. As educators we have the responsibility to make visible the complexities of becoming literate in the new millennium. This year's National Council of Teachers of English summer institute will focus on literacy as a human right.
--See A Librarian at the Kitchen Table.

[Thanks, TK].

Jane Karp writes "National Federation of the Blind Partners with Santa Claus

to Support Braille Literacy

Blind Children to Receive Letters in Braille

NORTH POLE (November 28, 2006): The National Federation of the Blind,
the nation's oldest and largest consumer organization of the blind, and
the leading promoter of Braille literacy in the United States,
announced today that as Christmas approaches the Federation will be
providing a special service for children who read Braille. Blind
children who wish to send Braille letters to Santa will be able to
submit their letters to the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan
Institute, which will then Braille Santa's response. For more information about the Braille
Letters from Santa Program, visit our Web site at website. -- Read More

TransLibrarian writes "An Easy Reading Plaza is the number one hit in Dutch public libraries.An Easy Reading Plaza is a special area in the library for children with reading difficulties. Recently there is far more awareness of the problems that children with reading difficulties experience in later life when their reading abilities are not up to the levels required by modern society. Many local authorities therefore see an Easy Reading Plaza in their local library as a valuable contribution to tackling this problem. More on this subject on http://dutchlibraries.web-log.nl/"

Adri writes "Oklahoma's literacy campaign Read Y'all has gotten AP headlines for its latest poster girl Carrie Underwood. Mind you plenty of folks are complaining about the use of Y'all in the campaign..." Well it beats the "Don't Read" campaign. But why do all these contrived efforts to be folksy remind me of that Appalachian State University video?