International Literacy Day is the perfect chance to discover libraries

7 September

Worldwide, one in five adults are illiterate, and one in six people in the UK struggle with literacy.  Wednesday 8 September is International Literacy Day to raise awareness of the importance of literacy, and is the ideal day to discover what Kent libraries have to offer and how they can help improve people’s quality of life.

Kent County Council Cabinet member for Community Services, Mike Hill, said:
“It is impossible to over emphasise the importance of literacy and the very real difference that reading and writing skills can make to a person’s quality of life. 

“Our library service is absolutely dedicated to supporting and encouraging Kent residents and International Literacy Day is a perfect opportunity to come in and see how we can help.”

Whether it’s getting lost in an eBook fiction adventure, enjoying quality family time at a Baby Bounce session, or delving into family history in the archives, there are lots of options available for Kent residents to enjoy library services.

For Barbara, aged 84, the library helps her indulge her love of reading and feel connected with her community.  She receives a fortnightly visit from a home library service volunteer to bring her books and audiovisual materials.  Her daughter says:
“In Mum’s view it is a lifeline. And for us, as her carers, it’s one less thing to worry about.”

Kent Libraries offer free access to books, free access to computers and the internet and a wide variety of events and activities for all ages.  Libraries also offer a number of services and activities to support Kent residents:

For children and families

• Specially chosen books for pre-school children and books on parenting 
• Baby Rhyme Times and Story Times for families
• Homework clubs
• National Summer Reading Challenge to keep kids reading during the summer break

For adults

• ‘Quick Reads’, which are short, fast-paced books written by well-known authors and  celebrities
• Books for adults who are developing their reading further or who are learning  English, as well as English grammar and spelling books
• For people who have dyslexia, special tinted paper for photocopying and printing is  being introduced as well as a special library card that means spoken word CDs and  late books do not incur overdue charges
• Libraries can help with setting up reading groups including ones for groups of less  confident readers
• Some libraries are working with Kent Adult Education Skills Plus centres to offer  the national Six Book Challenge, which is designed to help adults improve their  reading skills and get into reading for pleasure
• AbilityNet software on all public computers in libraries, including:
  o  Virtual magnifying glass
  o  Vu Bar to help individuals who find it difficult to read large amounts of   text
  o  RapidSet - alternative font and background colour
  o  DSpeech - a portable text-to-speech and text-to-MP3 converter
  o  Power Reader for people who struggle with reading
  o  Sonar - for users who have difficulty locating the pointer on the mouse
• eBooks and eAudio books, which can be downloaded via home computers from the  libraries website.

International Literacy Day was founded by UNESCO in 1946.