The National 2022 Great Book Swap Launches on 15 March!

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is gearing up for a bigger and better Great Book Swap in 2022 and is inviting schools, social groups, corporates, and individuals to sign up now and get ready to SWAP!

The Great Book Swap is a fantastic way to celebrate reading locally, learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and culture.

UNESCO has declared 2022 – 2032 the Decade of Indigenous Languages. There has never been a better time to get involved with the ILF and raise funds and awareness for the charity and learn more about an Indigenous First Language and promote a sense of social justice and help put more books into the hands of kids in remote Communities.

This year, the Foundation aims to raise $150,000 to gift 15,000 culturally relevant books to children and families in remote Communities.

The idea is super easy. Invite your school, team, or social group to bring in their favourite book and swap it for another for a gold coin or note donation.

Here’s how:

Register online – The Great Book Swap | Indigenous Literacy Foundation
Promote your event and collect donations
Gather your books and prepare for your event
Swap
Submit your funds and share your experience!

A new and easy-to-navigate site at www.greatbookswap.org.au is filled with First Language learning resources and features that help you to raise money and awareness, thank donors and reach fundraising milestones.

Any questions? Send them through to [email protected]. We are here to help!

Photography by Tace Stevens

About the ILF

In remote Communities across Australia, there is often no infrastructure such as libraries or bookstores. Access to reading material is extremely limited and this impacts the achievements of Indigenous children.

The ILF is a charity of the Australian Book Industry. It invests in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities by providing the tools and resources that Communities request to help them to shape their childrens’ literacy futures.

As a Community-led organisation, the ILF responds to requests from remote Communities for culturally relevant books, art and writing workshops, learning resources, mentors and literacy programs.

The Foundations three programs are:

Book Buzz aims to develop familiarity and engagement with books for children under five.
Book Supply gifts new, culturally relevant books to remote Communities across Australia and
Community Publishing Projects support Communities to write and illustrate their own stories in languages of their choice.

The early literacy Book Buzz program focuses on early literacy and currently supports running in 83 playgroups across the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia with books, many with First Language translations – that is, languages families speak at home. Pre-literacy skills are vital to prepare children for school.

Since 2010, when the Foundation was established, the ILF has gifted 636,000 books to hundreds of schools, health care centres, and service organisations that distribute them to children and families. By the end of 2022, the Foundation aims to gift another 100,000 books to over 325 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.

The Foundations Community Publishing Projects support Communities to write and illustrate their own books. To date, they have published 143 books that reflect twenty-six Indigenous languages including Pitjantjatjara, Kriol, Walmajarri, Ngaanyatjarra, YolŋuMatha, Tiwi and Arabana.

“Every year the dedicated ILF team works closely with remote Indigenous Communities to support reading and learning. Through ILF’s programs, books are gifted, some translated into first languages, and others are created by communities, reflecting the value and importance of culture and language.”

– Suzy Wilson, Founder

Photo by Tiffany Parker

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation receives no government assistance and is funded solely by corporate sponsors and individual donors. This allows the organisation to be agile and build trusting, long-term relationships Communities and plan for long-term impact.

For more information please contact us on (02) 9280 0644 or [email protected].
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