National Year of Reading 2012

Next Tuesday, 14th February, the National Year of Reading will be launched all over Australia. Well, these days we seem to have a “Year-of” something every year, and often we have several at once. So why does the National Year of Reading matter?
The simple answer is that in the reading stakes, Australians don’t always do well. Here are the facts, from the National Year of Reading website (http://www.love2read.org.au ).
The literacy issue in Australia
According to the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, nearly half of all Australians (46%) don’t have the literacy skills they need to cope with the complex demands of everyday life and work in the emerging knowledge-based economy. (http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4228.0 )
A survey by the Australian Industry Group in May 2010 of major employers found that more than 75% felt their businesses were affected by low levels of literacy and numeracy in the workforce. (http://www.aigroup.com.au/portal/site/aig/education/workforceliteracy/ )
Families who read give their children the best start
The most active period of brain growth and development is from birth to three and it is widely recognised that sharing books with young children before they go to school greatly improves their chances of developing good literacy skills. http://www.bookstart.org.uk/professionals/aboutbookstart-and-the-packs/research/reviews-and-resources/sharies-stories/
Fixing the problem
The National Year of Reading is about turning Australia into a nation of readers. There are three goals:

• For all Australians to understand the benefits of reading as a life skill and a catalyst for well-being
  


• To promote a reading culture in every home


• To establish an aspirational goal for families, of parents and caregivers sharing books with their children every day

There will be lots of reading events this year, at a National level, and also here in Gilgandra. On Tuesday 14th February (aka Library Lovers Day), the major Launch will take place at the National Library in Canberra. Here in Gilgandra, we’ll have copies of “Good Reading” magazine to give away to the first 30 library customers, free tea and coffee, lots of great reading material, and chocolate! We’ll also be asking customers to nominate their most loved books and authors, and we’ll be using this information to create a list of Gilgandra’s top reads.

What would you like to read this week? To see what books the Library has, call in and browse the shelves, or check out the library catalogue at http://nwls.spydus.com .