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‘The National Year of Reading gives us a great opportunity to work together to promote reading for pleasure to adults who are improving their skills.’
David Lammy MP Minister for Skills, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
Start with what you love. This is the message of the 2008 National Year of Reading - www.yearofreading.org.uk. And this is the message for adult learners as much as for any other audience.
The Vital Link libraries and adult literacy programme, together with the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), have created a series of ideas packs for practitioners working with adults in a range of different settings – see below. Each contains a list of top ten ideas, case studies and a section on useful resources.
The aim is to support you in introducing learners to reading in all its forms – books, magazines, websites, lyrics – not just this year but every year. We need to widen people’s concept of reading so that they can think of themselves as ‘readers’ whatever kind of reading they enjoy. We know that learners can get the reading bug if they are encouraged to choose what they read and can share their experience of reading with others. Reading needs to fit into their busy lives, be relevant to their interests and concerns but also to surprise them with new ideas and ways of looking at the world.
Research tells us that reading for pleasure ‘helps to increase enjoyment, self-confidence, motivation and the acquisition of functional literacy skills.’ Libraries are ideally placed to support learners as they discover an enjoyment of reading of all kinds. But other organisations also have expertise and resources to offer which can help to engage people in a love of reading. Local authorities, colleges, prisons, trade unions, businesses and voluntary organisations have all made a commitment to use the National Year of Reading to create new readers.
Make good use of these ideas while the profile for reading is high and help us to make 2008 an exciting point in their reading journey for adult learners across the country.
New readers I – up to Skills for Life Entry Level 2 (pdf)
New readers 2 – Skills for Life Entry Level 3 and above (pdf)
Parents and carers of young children (pdf)
Dads and male carers of young children (pdf)
ESOL learners (pdf)
People in prisons and young offender institutions (pdf)
People in the workplace (pdf)
FE college students (pdf)
HE students (pdf)
People with additional needs (pdf)
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