Better Reading works in collaboration with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, who do amazing work in remote communities. We asked the team at ILF to give us an update on their current projects and their ongoing goals. It’s a timely reminder of their valuable work, just before before Indigenous Literacy Day on Sept 2 2020.
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s vision is equity of opportunity for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who live in remote parts of Australia. We aim to ensure that these children can develop their full potential and make choices for their future education, health, and general wellbeing. Our purpose is to boost literacy levels and instil a lifelong love of reading through our three core programs for remote children and their families:
- Book Buzz supports early literacy
- Book Supply provides culturally relevant books and books translated in language, and
- Community Literacy Projects engages communities to write and illustrate their own books in their first language.
Photo credit: Wayne Quilliam
Our talented ambassadors, like Andy Griffith, Alison Lester, Anita Heiss, Shelley Ware, Jessica Mauboy, Gregg Dreise and Natalie Ahmat to name a few, plus our Indigenous program team collaborate with communities in face to face workshops, to write and illustrate books in their first language. These stories have meaning and context for the children and people who produce them, and we acknowledge that the maintenance of language and culture in these communities is a valuable legacy for generations to come.
Very remote communities don’t have access to public libraries. Some of these communities are a long, nine-hour drive from the nearest major town and their school libraries have limited resources. Our research has shown that most households have fewer than five books. We believe that facilitating literacy through the gifting of carefully curated books, is an important step towards equity of opportunity.
Our motto is reading opens doors.
To see ILF in action check out these videos to get “the story behind the story”:
10 Years of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation is a charity of the Australian Book Industry. They receive no government assistance and are funded by partner organisations, corporate sponsors and individual donors. Donations fund the programs for communities that need them most. Every $10 puts a book into the hands of a child in a remote community. You can donate here: ild.org.au
You can also support the Indigenous Literacy Foundation by purchasing Sally Morgan’s new book Can You Dance?
For more information: [email protected] or click here
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