The Gift of Reading - Lucy Coats

Yesterday you had John Dougherty's sobering post on a Gloucestershire Councillor's overt 'fibs' about the High Court's judgement on libraries. Today's post will be no less politically-minded, I'm afraid, and what's more I don't have any beautiful pictures of India to console you with.  Instead, I'm going to give you a headline:

Almost 4m children in Britain do not own a book

Shocking, isn't it?  That's apparently 1 in 3 children.  Yes, that's right.  Your eyes are not deceiving you.

ONE IN THREE

It makes my heart break to read this statistic, let alone to write it down in big, bold letters, and when you add it to another recent statistic, that 24% of adults in the UK have the numeracy skills of a child of nine, or younger, then we are looking at a literacy/numeracy disaster which will affect coming generations in ways which are nearly too dreadful to contemplate.  Except that we must contemplate it. 

I've banged on often about the importance of saving our libraries here and elsewhere, along with many others on this blog.  If all these children do not own a book, for a variety of reasons, many of which are to do with socio-economic factors, where are they most likely to be helped to appreciate that books and reading are important?  School? Of course. But many school librarians have now felt the sharp sting of the axe edge.  So, the local library - if there is one left.  This is why I beg all of you to put a date in your diaries, Saturday 4th February, 2012, which has been designated National Libraries Day. Much will be happening, and your support will be vital.  You can keep an eye on what's going on by joining the Campaign for the Book's Official Facebook page, where you will find regular updates on this and other library news from Alan Gibbons. We must all make our voices heard, and loudly, to preserve what we already have for those millions of children and adults who need access to libraries and books so badly.  Damn those who say libraries are not important, and an extravagance in this time of recession and cuts.  Our libraries are an essential cornerstone of literacy.  They are essential, full stop.

But back to those one in three children who do not own a book.  What could we do about that?  Well, if you want to help right now, at Christmas, in a small way, you could do much worse than support the National Literacy Trust's GIVE THE GIFT OF READING THIS CHRISTMAS campaign, and buy some of their Christmas cards.  A donation of £7 will mean a child gets a book of their own, but you'll have to hurry, because the cut-off date is December 12th.  All of us who read this blog will remember the wonder of escaping into another world through the pages of a book for the very first time.  What better gift to give someone than that?

Lucy's Greek Beasts and Heroes series is available here
'"Greek Beasts and Heroes" is a fabulous introduction to myths for confident readers - perfect for bedtime reading, although you'll probably have to read just one more...the quality is top notch throughout.' The Bookbag
You can follow Lucy on Twitter @lucycoats
Lucy's website is at http://lucycoats.com