Tararua Libraries' fun way to help improve literacy

Library assistant Alice Leadbetter is one of those helping with the challenge which is hoped will get more people practising their reading skills. Photo / Leanne Warr

Tararua Libraries are hoping to help people improve literacy skills with this month's adult reading challenge.

District Librarian Brenda Graves said the adult reading challenge, which was now in its fifth year, was about encouraging adults to practise their reading.

She said part of the challenge was also to get them to try something they've not tried before, whether it was listening to a TED talk around literacy and reading, or reading a book that had been made into a movie.

Literacy has dropped, with 65 per cent of 15-year-olds having at least a functional level of literacy, Graves said.

Functional literacy is around such things as the ability to understand the instructions on how to use a fire extinguisher, for example.

"If you can't read and comprehend what's written, there are issues for you when it comes to taking part in a democratic society. You need to be able to make decisions and discern things so that you can vote."

Graves said the adult reading challenge was also a way of helping adults understand that literacy wasn't just about reading a book.

It was also about comprehension.

There were also different kinds of literacy - cultural, financial and digital.

Reading to children from a young age meant the child would understand that the marks on the page actually meant something.

But once they were in school, if they had trouble deciphering the words it was more likely to be caught early so that they could get support.

Graves said one of the things she was doing with the library strategy was going back to basics and starting with young children.

"One of the global trends identified by the International Federation of Library Associations in the past year has been the increasing social isolation and the fact that society is no longer cohesive."

She said people were no longer living or communicating as a society because they were increasingly online.

"That's threatening to destroy the cohesiveness in society."

Another issue with being online was there was a lot of misinformation and people's ability to discern where the information came from was breaking down, Graves said.

People weren't reading widely enough and not questioning that information, she said.

For instance, if a person used Google to find information, the algorithms would use that search and bring up similar results, rather than giving different or opposing perspectives.

"Whereas in a library you can go to the shelf and see both sides of an argument."

Graves said libraries still had a part to play, not only in terms of access to reading for pleasure but also for people to practise their reading skills.

"That's what we're trying to do with the challenge."

The challenge takes place from June 6 to July 8, and those wanting to participate need to register with the library and report on the challenges they have completed.

Each person who has completed a challenge will go into a draw, with a weekly one of a small voucher and the grand prize of $250 for those who have completed five or more.