At the beginning of author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story", she tells of her experiences with stories as a young girl in Nigeria. Growing up reading books from Europe and America, the only stories she new were of people with white skin and blue eyes, eating apples and doing other distinctly European activities. Since those were the only stories she had read, that was all she knew to write. It's a powerful example of why it's important to have stories available everywhere by local writers.
Writing and publishing books around the world would surely have amazing benefits, but is easier said than done. Adichie mentions in her talk the non-profit Farafina Trust, which currently provides annual writing workshops in Lagos, Nigeria, and their dreams of building and refurbishing libraries there. To be inspired to write, people first need to read. This is not just an issue of having access to stories that are meaningful to local cultures. Millions of people worldwide don't have adequate access to books in a language that they can read and, as a result, 387 million children in the world lack basic reading skills.
This is where global libraries come in. Several global partnerships are trying to change the situation and bring students more and better access to books. CODE and the Global Book Alliance are two organizations that are helping to translate and publish books in under-served areas around the world, including communities right here in Canada. CODE also helps to train local teachers and librarians so that more people can get access to provided books.
Books are, unfortunately, one of the most awkward items to transport. They are big, heavy, and can become outdated within a few years. For this reason, many groups are focusing on digital books, rather than physical ones. Books in the public domain can be digitized and made publicly available. Initiatives like Project Gutenberg are attempting to digitize books old enough to be in the public domain, and to make freely available as many books as possible. They use massive numbers of volunteers to help proofread their digitized books, and you too can help one page at a time. They have already digitized over 58,000 books, but their efforts are currently limited to 5 European languages.
Digital books are not just those that are old enough to be in the public domain. Many groups are creating and making available Open Education textbooks. These books are openly licensed and can be downloaded, printed and altered freely. Groups like the Canadian-lead Commonwealth of Learning are encouraging developing countries in the Commonwealth to develop and use online textbooks for learning. OER Commons has an online database with hundreds of categorized, searchable, and openly licensed textbooks. Digital textbooks have the benefits that they can more easily be updated and translated into different languages.
Of course, to read digitized books, one must have access to a device on which to read them. Worldreader is an organization that, rather than delivering books to schools in underprivileged areas, supplies schools with e-readers loaded with books. The bonus of e-readers is that they can be updated with new books as they come available, preventing the textbooks from becoming outdated in underprivileged schools. Schools need only have access to a power supply to charge their e-readers, and new books can be downloaded over any wi-fi signal.
Reading is an important skill that gives us access to incredible amounts of information. It is something that we take for granted and often assume is universal. Everyone should have access to adequate materials and education in order to learn to read and, thankfully, many organizations are working towards this goal.
References
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (2009). The Danger of a Single Story. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
Commonwealth of Learning (2016). Guide to Developing Open Textbooks. Retrieved from https://www.col.org/resources/guide-developing-open-textbooks
Farafina Trust (2016). Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshops. Retrieved from https://farafinatrust.org/
GEM Report (2018). Books are essential to solving the global learning crisis. Retrieved from https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/books-are-essential-to-solving-the-global-learning-crisis/
Global Book Alliance (2018). Introducing the Global Book Alliance. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9m1k7SDr5A
OER Commons (2019). Open Textbooks. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/open-textbooks
Project Gutenberg (2019). Volunteers' FAQ. Retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteers%27_FAQ
UNESCO (2017). 617 million children and adolescents not getting the minimum in reading and math. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/news/617-million-children-and-adolescents-not-getting-minimum-reading-and-math
Worldreader (2018). School Reading Program. Retrieved from https://worldreader.org/our-solution/programs/school-reading/
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie "The Danger of a Single Story". Video care of YouTube.
Writing and publishing books around the world would surely have amazing benefits, but is easier said than done. Adichie mentions in her talk the non-profit Farafina Trust, which currently provides annual writing workshops in Lagos, Nigeria, and their dreams of building and refurbishing libraries there. To be inspired to write, people first need to read. This is not just an issue of having access to stories that are meaningful to local cultures. Millions of people worldwide don't have adequate access to books in a language that they can read and, as a result, 387 million children in the world lack basic reading skills.
This is where global libraries come in. Several global partnerships are trying to change the situation and bring students more and better access to books. CODE and the Global Book Alliance are two organizations that are helping to translate and publish books in under-served areas around the world, including communities right here in Canada. CODE also helps to train local teachers and librarians so that more people can get access to provided books.
Access to books matters. Global Book Alliance video care of YouTube.
Books are, unfortunately, one of the most awkward items to transport. They are big, heavy, and can become outdated within a few years. For this reason, many groups are focusing on digital books, rather than physical ones. Books in the public domain can be digitized and made publicly available. Initiatives like Project Gutenberg are attempting to digitize books old enough to be in the public domain, and to make freely available as many books as possible. They use massive numbers of volunteers to help proofread their digitized books, and you too can help one page at a time. They have already digitized over 58,000 books, but their efforts are currently limited to 5 European languages.
Digital books are not just those that are old enough to be in the public domain. Many groups are creating and making available Open Education textbooks. These books are openly licensed and can be downloaded, printed and altered freely. Groups like the Canadian-lead Commonwealth of Learning are encouraging developing countries in the Commonwealth to develop and use online textbooks for learning. OER Commons has an online database with hundreds of categorized, searchable, and openly licensed textbooks. Digital textbooks have the benefits that they can more easily be updated and translated into different languages.
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| Online books are easier to send around the world. Image care of neat.com |
Of course, to read digitized books, one must have access to a device on which to read them. Worldreader is an organization that, rather than delivering books to schools in underprivileged areas, supplies schools with e-readers loaded with books. The bonus of e-readers is that they can be updated with new books as they come available, preventing the textbooks from becoming outdated in underprivileged schools. Schools need only have access to a power supply to charge their e-readers, and new books can be downloaded over any wi-fi signal.
 |
| E-readers can hold several books and be updated over wi-fi. Image care of currys.ie |
Reading is an important skill that gives us access to incredible amounts of information. It is something that we take for granted and often assume is universal. Everyone should have access to adequate materials and education in order to learn to read and, thankfully, many organizations are working towards this goal.
References
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (2009). The Danger of a Single Story. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
Commonwealth of Learning (2016). Guide to Developing Open Textbooks. Retrieved from https://www.col.org/resources/guide-developing-open-textbooks
Farafina Trust (2016). Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshops. Retrieved from https://farafinatrust.org/
GEM Report (2018). Books are essential to solving the global learning crisis. Retrieved from https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/books-are-essential-to-solving-the-global-learning-crisis/
Global Book Alliance (2018). Introducing the Global Book Alliance. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9m1k7SDr5A
OER Commons (2019). Open Textbooks. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/open-textbooks
Project Gutenberg (2019). Volunteers' FAQ. Retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteers%27_FAQ
UNESCO (2017). 617 million children and adolescents not getting the minimum in reading and math. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/news/617-million-children-and-adolescents-not-getting-minimum-reading-and-math
Worldreader (2018). School Reading Program. Retrieved from https://worldreader.org/our-solution/programs/school-reading/
Thank you for sharing the video with the message of the danger of a single story. It is an important message. You have referenced and linked a number of organizations and strategies here. I especially appreciate the link to the “how you can help” section for Project Gutenberg. I like that you are creating an opportunity for your reader to be part of the solution.
ReplyDeleteHaving culturally relevant material is very important for readers. I think it is wonderful that there is organizations out there like the Farafina Trust that is organizing writing workshops. This will help to create the material needed and inspire new generations of writers to share their stories. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete