Taking the Pledge

:: The E4 promo shot ::

Not I'm not joining a Sorority...much as they look fun from the recent E4 programme...

:: CILT logo ::

 I took a pledge to read the printed word. As the site says, e-books etc are fine but it's important we keep reading "real" books and "real" newspapers. I stopped for a while to do a little Kindle-ing but then I realised, because my budget is severally limited, that I was missing out on recent releases. So I revisit the local library...and was pleased with what I found.

So that sounds like I'm just using libraries for selfish reasons but actually I would hate to see libraries (and bookshops) disappear. My local libraries are the hub of the community. I know I have spent many a happy hour looking through the shelves. It can be a refuge. I have also spent  a lot of time working in libraries. The peace and quiet are great to get some work finished.

But libraries are also there to send  a message to kids which says "reading is cool" and not something just for clever people. I have worked with children with literacy issues who didn't like reading and saw no value in it. But progress could be made if a topic grabbed them. Then they wanted to know more and the library (as well as the internet, TV etc) was a really good starting point. When they recognise that there are books on a range of issues and interests then they seem less afraid of reading.