 |
 |
The Vital Link was pleased
to take up an invitation from the DfES Adult Basic Skills
Strategy Unit to add a reading message to 1.5 million
bookmarks being distributed to all libraries in England
in February.
These feature the gremlins as part of the current phase
of the Government's Get On campaign to recruit basic skills
learners. Our message, which has been endorsed by Resource
and the Society of Chief Librarians, encourages members
of the public and professionals to look at www.vitallink.org.uk
and find out more about the Vital Link programme. |
The Vital Link received funding from the national Learning
& Skills Council to run three seminars in late March in
order to promote libraries' contribution to the Skills for
Life strategy for adult basic skills. Held in London, Birmingham
and York, these brought together library staff and representatives
from local LSCs, basic skills providers and other basic skills
network. Read a short report on
the seminars
In August 2003, it was confirmed that there would be new funding
for the Vital Link from Resource (the council for museums, archives
and libraries) to take forward the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport's new 10-year strategy for libraries, Framework for
the Future, in relation to support for adult literacy.
Colleges dismiss at their peril the opportunities public
libraries offer for getting adults who struggle with literacy
and numeracy back into education, Government ministers have
warned.
A successful study of partnerships between libraries and
colleges has been seized on by ministers and educational strategists
behind the Government's drive to improve adult literacy and
numeracy. They have warned colleges that the Government's
Skills For Life strategy could fail and targets be missed
unless colleges work with local libraries.
Baroness Blackstone, arts minister, and Susan Pember, director
of the adult basic skills strategy unit, stressed the pivotal
role of libraries when reaching people with basic skills problems
when speaking at the Vital Link conference. The Vital Link
was a pilot project - a reader development and adult basic
skills initiative run by The Reading Agency, the National
Literacy Trust and the National Reading Campaign.
Baroness Blackstone said libraries would act as a stepping
stone to education for adults with basic skills needs.
(TES, 7 February 2003)
| |
56px.gif)
