September is Literacy Month in British Columbia, and while books are certainly part of the celebration at the ORL, literacy reaches well beyond the page.
It’s understanding a news story, navigating a new app, comparing prices, learning another language, interpreting information, managing money, and figuring out how things work. Reading and writing are at its heart, but literacy gives us the skills to learn, communicate, solve problems, and make sense of the world around us.
And the best part? Your local library has a lot more than books to help you explore literacy in all its forms.
Start with Family Literacy
Some of our earliest experiences with literacy happen together. Reading aloud, talking, singing, playing, and telling stories help children build language and early literacy skills.
The ORL’s Family Literacy Library of Things kit turns that learning into hands-on family fun, with activities designed for children and their grown-ups to explore together.
Families can also discover Story Times, reading lists curated by our librarians, and plenty of books to share together.
Explore Multilingual Literacy
Rosetta Stone provides interactive lessons for learning and practising languages, whether you’re starting from scratch or strengthening skills you already have.
Families can also explore LOTE4Kids, a collection of children’s picture books available in more than 50 world languages with English translations. Read together, discover another language, or share stories in a language spoken at home.
Money Wise
Counting change, comparing prices, planning a budget, saving for something special, and understanding financial information are all forms of financial literacy. For younger learners, the Dollars & Sense Library of Things kit makes those skills hands-on. Activities and games, including a cash register, Coin Puzzle, and Pay Day, introduce money concepts through play.
Adults interested in financial and investment literacy can explore Value Line Investment Survey for information about companies, stocks, rankings, research, and forecasts.
Building Digital Confidence
Technology is part of everyday life, but that doesn’t mean everyone magically knows how it works. Niche Academy offers tutorials covering everyday digital skills, including Gmail, social media, iPads, and other commonly used technologies.
For people looking to build professional or workplace skills, LinkedIn Learning offers thousands of courses covering Excel, coding, software, graphic design, data analysis, business skills, and much more.
Become an Information Detective
Finding information is easy. Figuring out whether you should trust it can be considerably harder. Information and media literacy help us ask useful questions: Who created this? What evidence supports it? Is the source reliable? Is something fact, opinion, advertising, satire, or misinformation?
Kermode Education helps learners develop skills for evaluating websites for accuracy, bias, and trustworthiness.
Research tools such as Explora and Britannica Library provide another route to reliable information, helping students and curious minds research topics and explore credible reference sources.
News From Multiple Perspectives
News literacy gives us another opportunity to put those critical-thinking skills to work. PressReader provides access to newspapers and magazines from Canada and around the world. Exploring reporting from different publications and places can help readers encounter new perspectives, compare coverage, and think critically about how stories are presented.
It can also help you keep up with what’s happening back home, across Canada, or around the world.
Experiment, Build, Code, and Discover
STEM literacy takes learning even further. The ORL’s Library of Things includes Snap Circuits Junior kits, Edison Robots, Ozobot Evos, Sphero Bolts, and other tools for STEM learning.
Coding, electronics, observation, experimentation, and problem-solving all help us understand how things work. A book can teach you about a circuit. Snap Circuits lets you build one.
Making Literacy Accessible
Literacy also depends on having equitable ways to access information and stories. For people with print disabilities, traditional print books may not be the most accessible way to read. Through services including the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) and the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), eligible ORL patrons can access collections created specifically for people with print disabilities.
Because access to reading, information, and learning shouldn’t depend on your ability to read conventional print.
Literacy Changes Lives Across B.C.
September is Literacy Month throughout British Columbia. Led by Decoda Literacy Solutions, a registered non-profit organization and registered charity, Literacy Month is a province-wide celebration of literacy and an opportunity to recognize the people, organizations, and community programs helping British Columbians strengthen their literacy skills.
It’s also a fundraising campaign to support literacy. Money raised during Literacy Month helps support community-based literacy programs and initiatives across B.C., creating opportunities for people of different ages and backgrounds to strengthen the skills they use at home, at work, and in their communities.
Want to help change lives? Visit September is Literacy Month to learn more about the campaign, discover ways to participate, and support literacy in B.C..
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