September 8 was International Literacy Day. It was declared by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1965. That’s kinda cool!
Literacy is not only language and reading, but competence or knowledge in a specified area. We are all literate in something. My husband is quite literate with computers (my own personal IT guy), my friend is literate in pottery, and my daughter is literate in salsa dancing. Most of the time, however, when the word literacy is used, it is making reference to reading and writing and that is really what International Literacy Day is all about.
The ability to read and write, in my opinion, is more important now than ever to promote in the United States. With the slang used for texting (LOL, OMG, ROFL), assistance with spell check, and reliance on everything digital, technology has left us lacking in some ways. We do a lot of superficial reading but not as much deep reading. Getting lost in a story or learning something new is part of deep reading. I am not sure it matters if we are reading an ebook or a physical paper book, the point is that we all need to deep read a bit more. Below are a few good articles for you to READ.
- International Literacy Association: READ about International Literacy Day.
- The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction: This article by Annie Murphy Paul is really interesting. I don’t need to explain it when you can go READ it.
- 11 Facts about Literacy in America: READ them, you might be surprised!!
People all over the world celebrate International Literacy Day. I didn't see any public celebrations where I live, but we can all have our own personal celebrations, anytime, anywhere. Grab a book, a magazine, pull up an ebook online, or go to the library... then, turn off the TV, put down your phone, and READ. Who knows, you might just enjoy it and learn something you didn’t know before.
HAPPY (BELATED) INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY!
GO CELEBRATE!
READ!!