"What’s happening with the current generation is not that they are simply choosing TikTok over Jane Austen. They are being deprived of the ability to choose—for no real reason or benefit."

https://slate.com/human-interest/2024/02/literacy-crisis-reading-comprehension-college.html

"Young people won’t, or can’t, read a book. Now democracy is dying. Coincidence?

A viral conversation about the near-death of reading by U.S. college students in the iPhone era reveals a threat to democracy."

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/student-book-reading-declines-20250410.html

Resource recs for energy literacy https://andymasley.substack.com/p/recommended-resources-for-energy #AI #energy #literacy (putting stats in context)

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮:

It doesn't really matter if your library has a book handy: it has inter-library loans! You can get a book from anywhere the library is networked! Just ask! (That bestseller, too.)

Roseanne Barr’s Illiteracy Charity Snatches 100 Millionth Book From Child

https://theonion.com/roseanne-barrs-illiteracy-charity-snatches-100-millionth-book-from-child/

Milestone Celebrated With Seizure And Incineration Of Kids’ Literature

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮:

What are you studying for? Need some practice tests and guides? Most libraries have databases and networks for GMAT, AP, IB, SAT, and dozens of others! (and still free!)

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮:

Many libraries have eBooks and audiobooks for loan to your favorite reading device! Why are you paying money to Audible or Kindle or Nook when you can borrow and read or listen for free? Save some money and read and listen more! Talk to your librarian about their approach!

For all in the UK - please sign and share this letter set up by Connor Scott-Gardner to show your support for Braille transcription services run by RNIB which are being cut | “RNIB has scrapped its free personal braille transcription service, leaving blind people to cover the cost themselves. Large print is still free, this isn't equality! Sign the open letter urging RNIB to reverse this decision”
#DisabilityRights #Literacy #Braille #Disability #blind @disability
https://saveourbraille.wordpress.com

New Journal Article: “#Data #Literacy Skills: Industry Perspectives and Professional Practice” https://www.infodocket.com/2025/04/06/journal-article-data-literacy-skills-industry-perspectives-and-professional-practice/ #dataliteracy #libraries

A quotation from Jefferson

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1816-01-06) to Charles Yancey

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/jefferson-thomas/759…

"Most of our students are functionally illiterate. This is not a joke. By “functionally illiterate” I mean “unable to read and comprehend adult novels by people like Barbara Kingsolver, Colson Whitehead, and Richard Powers.” I picked those three authors because they are all recent Pulitzer Prize winners, an objective standard of “serious adult novel.” Furthermore, I’ve read them all and can testify that they are brilliant, captivating writers; we’re not talking about Finnegans Wake here. But at the same time they aren’t YA, romantasy, or Harry Potter either.

I’m not saying our students just prefer genre books or graphic novels or whatever. No, our average graduate literally could not read a serious adult novel cover-to-cover and understand what they read. They just couldn’t do it. They don’t have the desire to try, the vocabulary to grasp what they read,2 and most certainly not the attention span to finish. For them to sit down and try to read a book like The Overstory might as well be me attempting an Iron Man triathlon: much suffering with zero chance of success.

Students are not absolutely illiterate in the sense of being unable to sound out any words whatsoever. Reading bores them, though. They are impatient to get through whatever burden of reading they have to, and move their eyes over the words just to get it done. They’re like me clicking through a mandatory online HR training. Students get exam questions wrong simply because they didn't even take the time to read the question properly. Reading anything more than a menu is a chore and to be avoided."

https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today

"If I have offended any MAGAts with my posts, I apologize. I honestly thought you couldn’t read."

#Trump #Republicans #MAGA #education #literacy

https://www.threads.net/@audreylovesparis/post/DH1ac6fSj0R

Mississippi, once ranked 49th in #education test scores, is now among the top 20 for 4th grade reading. The state's #literacy reforms offer a model for closing early literacy gaps nationwide. An education policy scholar explains:
https://buff.ly/mzbgZ5X #Edstadon

"T𝐡e L𝐢b𝐫a𝐫y i𝐬 𝐚 𝐁a𝐭t𝐥e𝐠r𝐨u𝐧d," E𝐫i𝐤 𝐑u𝐢n, 𝟐0𝟐3.
Justseeds.org

All of our beautiful new and like-new children's books are donated by our awesome community of supporters, and we're always looking for Bay Area bookstores, cafes, and other businesses to host our #BookDrop donation stands.

If you know a great spot for a #BookDrop, check the link in bio for details!

Learn more about our mission at #ChildrensBookProject. Check out the link in bio to Give Books, Get Books, Volunteer, and Donate!

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