Towards a literate Australia: the role of public libraries in supporting reading

UNESCO’s Decade of Literacy (2003-2012), presents a golden opportunity for the public library movement to reassert its traditional role of supporting literacy as part of the lifelong learning agenda. The ability to function effectively in today’s Information Society requires a high degree of literacy and a complexity of skills which is leaving some people behind. Yet A 2000 OECD adult literacy survey, including participants in the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, reported that across twenty countries, 25% of respondents did not possess the necessary literacy skills to manage in today’s world. In Australia one in five adults do not possess sufficient literacy skills to participate in everyday life. This causes problems for living, working and for survival in virtually every area of life. The resources, networks and advocacy potential of public libraries make them natural allies of the literacy movement. This is recognised in the USA, where literacy schemes are supported at Federal, State and local level, and the American Library Association co-ordinates family literacy programs. In the UK, the Government’s Framework for the Future, which includes basic literacy skills targets, has given rise the Vital Link project, a cross-agency initiative which aims to maximise libraries’ contribution to supporting emergent readers. ALIA, in its Statement on Libraries and Literature (1996) not only endorses the role of public libraries in the supporting literacy but sees it as a core function. It is now an opportune time in Australia to re-examine that role and develop strategies for its future.