According to UNESCO, in the world today there are about 1 billion non-literate adults.

• This 1 billion is approximately 26 percent of the world's adult population.
• Women make up two-thirds of all non-literates.
• 98 percent of all non-literates live in developing countries.
• In the least developed countries, the overall illiteracy rate is 49 percent.
• 52 percent of all non-literates live in India and China.
• Africa as a continent has a literacy rate of less than 60 percent.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa since 1980, primary school enrollment has declined, going from 58 percent to 50 percent.
• In all developing countries, the percentage of children aged 6-11 not attending school is 15 percent. In the least developed countries, it is 45 percent.(UNESCO 1998)

Source:http://www.sil.org/literacy/litfacts.htm

Reading into the problem of illiteracy

People who cannot read and write -- people who are illiterate -- are marginalized in our society, both economically and socially. Imagine not being able to read a newspaper, or a job application. Imagine not being able to read to your child or grandchild. Imagine not being able to read a street sign.

Without literacy, people are permanently locked into what sociologists refer to as the underclass. If they are lucky enough to find work, and some of these industrious people do find work, then illiterate people have no choice but to accept the most menial kinds of jobs available. And they have very little ability to increase their wages over time. People wind up paying their whole lives for the inadequacy of their education.

A few years ago, I began my involvement with the literacy council in my home town by volunteering as a private tutor. I was paired up with a very nice man in his 50s who never learned to read. His explanation -- not that it really mattered -- was that he had to work on his parent's farm when he was a young man and had not had the opportunity to complete his education. The man had been gainfully employed for years, and despite decades of good service to his employer, was still earning very little money.

Because of his illiteracy, he didn't have a realistic option of finding a better job. Like many illiterate people, he was able to get through his day by memorizing the meaning of some key words more as symbols than as a collection of letters. The man had plenty of intelligence; he had simply failed too get educated when he was young. But the man wanted to read, and over time he did. What a wonderful I was able to pass on to fellow human being. You can pass on a gift as well by purchasing a book or providing a donation.

Literacy Skills of Canadians - UBC 2007 Study

In 2007, University of British Columbia economists David Green and Craig Riddell, economists at the University of British Columbia, studied the distribution of literacy skills and how they were generated in the Canadian-born population. Their study also included the nature of literacy generation during the year after leaving formal schooling and the relationship between literacy and income.

In their study, they found the following results:


• Literacy increases strongly (however at a decreasing rate) with years of schooling

• Parent’s education levels have a strong impact on literacy with the mother’s education being especially important

• Younger Canadians have lower levels of literacy than older Canadians had at the same age and level of education – particularly for more educated individuals

• Literacy plays a substantial role in potential income/earnings – 25-point increase in average literacy score impacts earnings equivalent to an extra year of schooling

• Literacy skills play a fundamental role in enabling individuals to function to their full capability

• Literacy is considerably more equally distributed than income

• Literacy skills tend to deteriorate with age

A summary of the study can be found at:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2007006/article/10528-eng.htm#b

September 8 - Literacy Day in Canada

Since 1966, International Literacy Day has been celebrated every September 8. Yet there are still millions who cannot read and write well enough to make well-informed decisions. Today one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women while 72 million children are out of school.

Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts but also for renewed political will and for all of us doing things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and internationally.

DID YOU KNOW ...

* Literacy levels are connected to most of the pressing social and economic issues - unemployment, poverty, homelessness, health, rates of incarceration, social assistance, and child well being.

* Today's job require highly literate workers - not just the ability to read and write well but thinking skills such as problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, and organizational skills.

* A high school education is no guarantee that a person has the literacy skills s/he needs to succeed but the lack of a high school education is a very strong indicator that s/he does not have the necessary skills.

* Learning doesn't end when we leave school - it is a lifelong process.

* Literacy levels influence the kind of jobs we'll get, the salaries we'll earn, our standard of living, the type of homes we'll live in, the type of education our children will receive and our ability to participate fully in our communities.

Source: http://bit.ly/alpkzk

Who we are?

We call ourselves the Fab four - Annie, Darren, Jomo and Lorraine. We are a group of four students doing our Bachelor of Commerce Program at Royal Roads University. We were tasked by our Entrepreneurial Expertise Professor, Geoff Archer to start a sustainable web business that would donate all funds to a not-for-profit organization. Our team wanted to support a good cause (obviously) but we also wanted to support a cause that was not always top-of-mind and with September and the school year approaching we thought what best than to support literacy! There would be many ways to support, and donations being the easiest one but we came up with another idea... Why not take all those used books we've read once and resell them to raise our funds... ties-in with the subject and also allows us to re-use something that has been sitting too long on our book shelves (now that is called sustainability!!!).


So our project - We have started this blog to discuss with you our venture and also allow you (our family, friends and friends of friends) to help us help literacy. We will be posting on a daily basis the new (used) books coming our way in hopes that you find one that you absolutely need to read. Once you found your perfect read - you can proceed to purchase the book ($7.00 for paperback and &15.00 for hard covers) and all the funds will be donated to Code, a Canadian organization that help support self-sufficiency through literacy in the developing world.

What you walk away with - a good feeling that you have helped a person learn how to read and a book for your thoughts too!!!

Now - maybe you are not a reader yourself and would really like to help out.... We also have a solution for you! You can also purchase a book and donate the book to Code, we will be keeping all the "donated" books and sending them to the organization along with the funds.

Our goal is to raise $1500 - we know it is small but we also have a very limited shelf life and know that anything makes a difference.
So to recap - here are the steps...

1. Check our blog every day to see what's new (you would not want the shopaholic book to be bought by someone else now, would you?)
2. Buy the book
3. Select a price ($7 or $15) plus $2.50 shipping
4. Decide if you want the book for you or if you want to donate the book
5. Make sure to let us know which book you are buying in the comment box (sorry no accounting system on this blog)
6. Send us a message and tell us why you picked this book!

You can also donate funds if you wish - note that no donation receipts will be provided and all the funds will be donated on your behalf by Royal Roads University.

Now.... Get reading!!!

Cheers and Thank you!

Annie, Darren, Jomo and Lorraine