Happy International Literacy Day!
It is such an exciting day for the world of books. This celebration is marked every September 8 across the globe to help spread awareness on the valuable impact of literacy. It also aims to pay attention to the issues that contribute to low literacy levels in communities.
Declared by UNESCO, the first celebration took place in 1967. And many decades later, this year’s theme is one of a kind, “literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.”
We can all play a part in promoting literacy in one way or another. Here are some of the ways to do so.
Review a book. You probably have opinions about a book you have read. How about sharing them?
Read to a child. Instilling a reading culture while they are young is impactful.
Explore a genre that is new to you. Be curious about different genres. Try out science fiction, fantasy, autobiographical, political thrillers, satires, any genre you would not normally pick.
Promote a book. Sing praises about some of the books you truly loved reading. Give a shout-out to your favourite authors.
Read a book. Devour a chapter of a new book, re-read one of your favourite books, finish a book you love.
Recommend a book. Informing other readers about a book is likely to get some of them develop an interest in them. There are times that people do not know which other book to get next. Shared recommendations come in handy.
Donate a book to a library. Mukuru Library and Book Bunk which is restoring the three McMillan Memorial Libraries are accepting books. Look around to also see many other community libraries and individuals who are in need of books.
Gift a book to your loved ones, to a stranger, to anyone.
Buy a book.
Start a book club. Virtual book clubs are becoming a thing now, it can still be successful whether you meet on Zoom or on social media.
Begin collecting books. If this has been a dream hobby of yours, pursue it. Collect books for charity or for your own home library. Collect.
Reorganize your stack of books. Dust off your bookcase, rearrange the books in size, colour or any other form as you wish. Give it a facelift.
Support your local bookstore. You can do this by telling other people about the store, buying books and stationeries from the store, pre-ordering books and partaking in their activities such as hosted book clubs.
Amplify organizations that are centered on building literacy in our communities.
Build more awareness around books. Share about your experiences as a reader, benefits of reading, steps that need to be taken to promote literacy, and so on.
We would like to know, how are you going to celebrate the day?
