ILD Celebration in the US

This year's International Literacy Day event will mark the launch of a nation-wide movement to heighten attention, awareness and buy-in to issues of literacy, both domestic and international that are relevant to the American public. The theme of this national campaign is Get READy for Life! As a member of the International Literacy Network (ILN), the Association will join 20 other preeminent organizations dedicated to literacy and education in a variety of activities on September 5, 6 and 7 at the Ripley Center of the Smithsonian Institution. The main kickoff event on September 7 as well as three tv PSAs and a thematic video are made possible through the generous support of Verizon. Below is a description of the September ILN activities:

September 5, 2001
U.S. Department of Education and Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) will sponsor a symposium for 80-90 English as Second Language instructors and administrators from all 50 U.S. states. Following are highlights of the symposium: teacher roundtables on classroom challenges, review of synthesis on ESL research, video satellite discussion with Senegalese and Ghanaian educators on adult literacy, discussion on immigration trends and impact in the U.S. as well as distance learning and speakers with special needs.

September 6, 2001
ESL Symposium continues

September 7, 2001
Over 180 educators, literacy professionals and policy makers are expected to attend the kickoff event in the lecture hall of the Ripley Center of the Smithsonian Institution, this year's host. This two-hour morning event will include:
- reading by WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes and an adult learner to a group of children from one of the world's largest chairs, the Wear Dated Wing Chair
- appearance by one of the characters of the Emmy award winning children's public television show "Between the Lions"
- announcement of the International Literacy Day award winners
- launch of the National Literacy Directory and National Literacy Summit Action Agenda
- launch of national campaign along with a thematic video underscoring the vision and mission of the ILN

Additionally, ILN member organizations will exhibit their work in the concourse of the Ripley Center from 9:00am-2:00pm. Artists from Cartoonists Across America and the World will work with a group of DC youth on the painting of a mural based on the theme Get READy for Life! The mural will be displayed in the ILN's exhibit space at the National Book Festival on September 8.

Throughout the day, educators from the Smithsonian Institution will work with students on writing and art activities in the following museums: (1) National Museum of African Art, and (2) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

An invitation only leadership luncheon will be held to give the principals of the ILN member organizations and the day's VIP speakers the opportunity to strengthen inter-organizational relationships.

A symposium on Bi/Multilingual Literacy Research will be held the afternoon of September 7. This 2:00-4:00 event is organized by the Second Language Literacy sub-group of the ILN. It will consist of the following paper presentations followed by discussion:

1. The State of Adult Second Language Literacy Research
2. The State of School-Age Second Language Literacy Research
3. The State of pre-school through grade 10 Second Language Literacy Research (focus on Spanish)

The symposium will be followed by a closing reception

International Literacy Network < http://www.verizonreads.net/ILN> : Beliefs and Mission

Issues surrounding literacy are commanding growing worldwide attention. The stakes have been exponentially raised given the advent of the information age and the new world economic order in which the ability to use multiple mediums of communication is vital. Literacy is no longer considered a simple matter of reading, writing and numeracy skills, but of empowerment, civil society, life-long learning, economic mobility and overall improved quality of life. In the face of a growing gap between people and nations with access to information technologies and the skills to use them and those left on the periphery of these changes, it is time adequate attention be paid to the critical need for global gains in literacy.

During the past several years, representatives from the world's preeminent organizations that are based in the USA and dedicated to literacy have met to assess the means for cooperating on a unified campaign to enhance the value and status of literacy among all peoples. The inherent potential for such a grouping should be evident, but it is equally clear that association alone brings no guarantee of results. Hence the decision to seek the resources needed to create a meaningful, multiple-year action agenda. The participating 21 groups that make up the International Literacy Network (ILN) include:

American Library Association
Between the Lions/WGBH
Center for Applied Linguistics
Center for the Book/U.S. Library of Congress
International Literacy Institute
International Reading Association
National Center for ESL Literacy Education
National Coalition for Literacy
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institute for Literacy
Reach Out and Read
Reading is Fundamental
Reading Rockets/WETA
SIL International
Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies
U.S. Department of Education
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Reads
World Bank

All share a commitment to ensuring a stronger international role for literacy in human development efforts worldwide. We realize the vital necessity of finding effective avenues of exposure in order to promote the global advancement of literacy. We also recognize the risk of adhering to any single organization's goals for literacy, because the challenge is greater than any one institution can address.

The ILN member organizations have a mutual understanding of the importance of achieving strong and cohesive American participation in the drive for literacy and for connecting various literacy initiatives through a single network in which all can benefit through association as well as idea and information sharing. While acting without a formal mandate, we are nevertheless aware that the effort produced through collaboration promises to yield a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Since its inception in 1967, International Literacy Day (September 8) has been commemorated around the globe including the sponsorship of awards to recognize exceptional programs that promote literacy. International Literacy Day has had a relatively low profile in the United States in the past, but greater efforts are being made to make the day's celebrations more accessible to the American public in order to raise the profile of this important day and the issues surrounding it. Hence, the ILN's launch of an awareness raising campaign focusing on an American audience on September 7, 2001.

A collaboration to ensure the highest profile for a portfolio of literacy activities will advance advocacy efforts for literacy in a world where media programming has a powerful influence and a lasting impact. To succeed, the effort will need to be on the scale of the challenge itself, which demands a partnership such as ours, one that can leverage and motivate industry, media and government alike to sign on. We are pleased that Verizon has joined the ILN as our first corporate partner.

The ILN has discussed numerous innovative ideas of an inclusive nature, capable of tapping into the vast U.S. media machine and gathering momentum by rallying forces of other domestic-based literacy groups and spreading to libraries, schools and community groups. The potential for raising the profile of the cause of literacy to generate public and private support for change is enormous.

The leaders of this collaborative endeavor are well aware of the challenges inherent in scaling up the cause for literacy, but they also hold the conviction that by building a critical mass of positive interest, these challenges can be met.