Hello and welcome from Richard Van Camp!

This issue celebrates 12 years of publishing excellence from the Literacy Materials Bulletin Committee for learning academies across Canada. That's right! Twenty-four issues and we are still going strong.

I have had the privilege of belonging to the committee for the past two years; during this time, I have felt so inspired by our team of dedicated educators who make up the committee. Our mandate is to find, field-test, review, and recommend materials to be used in the classroom, library, or curriculum that are appropriate to the reading level of basic/fundamental adult learners and are free of bias regarding race and gender.

Working with the committee while teaching at Heiltsuk College in beautiful Bella Bella has not been work at all. Receiving CD-ROMs that explore new ways of user-friendly adult learning in the fields of math and English was something new for me, and I am so impressed with the innovative exercises being developed. Heiltsuk College also received atlases, novels, textbooks and videos that we field-tested in our classrooms. Bella Bella, you see, does not have a public library, so we are always happy to receive something that we can use immediately. All materials sent our way to field-test were met with enthusiasm by our staff and students, and we were always eager to see what worked and, most importantly, to find out why certain resources were more successful than others. We do have a library at the college that all students are welcome to use; however, no school can ever have enough resources that are created for the fundamental level. One of our great discoveries this year was the National Adult Literacy Database website www.nald.ca. What a treasure for our students who wanted fun exercises for math and English! The satisfaction I felt working with the committee came from the knowledge that while we were testing materials in our classrooms, educators from across BC were doing the same in their schools with their students. What a team!

I can honestly say that what you are reading here and in our back issues are our highest recommendations to you of the finest resources in adult basic/fundamental education. Enjoy!