Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) Centre established in B.C.

The new CCL Health and Knowledge Centre will be led by the University of Victoria with a mandate to investigate the relationship between health and learning. The Centre is one of five based in different regions of the country examining various aspects of learning: adult learning (Atlantic Canada); early childhood learning (Quebec); work and learning (Ontario); Aboriginal learning (the prairies, NWT and Nunavat); health and learning (B.C. and Yukon).

Upcoming events and activities

Mark your calendars for this year’s Word on the Street Festival!
Literacy BC will once again host a booth along Literacy Lane at WOTS, on Sunday September 25 downtown in Library Square. Drop by and visit us -- we look forward to seeing you there!

Reminder … Raise-A-Reader Day is approaching. This year’s RAR Day is Thursday, September 29. On this day, volunteers and celebrities will hit the streets early in Vancouver and cities across Canada to sell newspapers and raise money for CanWest Global’s Raise-a-Reader campaign. The campaign was created by The Vancouver Sun in 1997 to increase awareness of literacy and raise money to fund children's literacy programs. Last year Literacy BC disbursed its $50,000 share of Raise-a-Reader funds to 50 family literacy programs in BC.

Books for Babies

A group of partners from the public library field in B.C. is working to launch a B.C. Books for Babies project this fall.

The idea behind Books for Babies is to develop a package that will include a children’s book, information on the importance of parents reading to their children and other material, and distribute it to every baby born in B.C. (approximately 40,000 annually).

The project is in the planning stages now, and an official launch is set for January 2006. This fall, project organizers are working to purchase the books, develop a poster and book bags, and approach donors. When the packages are ready, they will be shipped to communities throughout B.C. Once packages are delivered to local libraries, the group anticipates that librarians will work with local organizations to determine the most effective way of getting them into the hands of parents. Local fundraising will be encouraged. An important piece of the project is to encourage the families who receive packages to bring their baby to the library.