While perusing, True You, Janet Jackson’s memoir on self-esteem, I came across an anecdote that resonated.

As a child, Jackson enjoyed reading. However, she was discouraged that she wasn’t reading at the level of her peers and endeavored to ask her tutor (remember, she was a child star) for help.

The tutor was impressed with the young girl’s determination to improve her reading ability, and told her mother so. Katherine Jackson, a very proud woman, scolded her daughter for confiding in a relative stranger.

Like Janet, I too struggled to keep up with the reading abilities of my peers as a small child. This lead to frustration, but fortunately my stubborn determination won out and I truly fell in love with reading, and went on to major in English Rhetoric and Literature in university.

Keep an eye out on your child’s growth in regards to reading. If they seem frustrated and ready to give up, keep them inspired and remind them that they can accomplish anything…

Our mission is to encourage a love of reading in every child and give them the chance to reach their full potential. We know we will get there with the help of our 7,000 employees and millions of customers. The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has already committed $9 million dollars for high-needs elementary schools—but we need your help to keep growing. Each year, elementary schools are selected to become a Love of Reading school, and receive funding over a three-year period for books and literacy programs to inspire their students.

My small donation was money well spent as far as I’m concerned. After the book store, I checked out the record store. While there I saw signage for CBC’S Canada Reads, a competition where Canadian personalities select a single book that they feel Canadians should read. Interesting, right? However, I was most intrigued by their literacy partner, Frontier College’s Aboriginal Literacy Program, which I discovered when I checked out their web site:

Our mission is to encourage a love of reading in every child and give them the chance to reach their full potential. We know we will get there with the help of our 7,000 employees and millions of customers. The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has already committed $9 million dollars for high-needs elementary schools—but we need your help to keep growing. Each year, elementary schools are selected to become a Love of Reading school, and receive funding over a three-year period for books and literacy programs to inspire their students.

Our mission is to encourage a love of reading in every child and give them the chance to reach their full potential. We know we will get there with the help of our 7,000 employees and millions of customers. The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has already committed $9 million dollars for high-needs elementary schools—but we need your help to keep growing. Each year, elementary schools are selected to become a Love of Reading school, and receive funding over a three-year period for books and literacy programs to inspire their students.

I was impressed that Indigo has established such a worthy foundation and that the venerable CBC has aligned themselves with such an important literacy program as the Aboriginal Literacy Program, which was born at the end of the nineteenth century.

Please spend sometime learning about these great initiatives, and consider lending your support…

Just a quick fact: Did you know that a staggering 48% of Canadian adults are considered low literate, which means they cannot successfully participate in society? I was flabbergasted when I read that statistic.

We live in a culture where celebrities inundate our lives almost 24/7. They tell us what to wear, what to eat, what to go see at the movies, what to add to our iPod play lists. But sometimes they also use their powers of persuasion for good. While there are countless causes to champion, many celebrities have attached their name to promoting literacy. Such celebrities include Oprah, who has in the past supported Literacy Action, Inc.,  Academy of Hope, and READ Educational Trust.

Hopefully more celebrities will join Oprah and other celebrities in trying to promote literacy. But it’s not just celebrities who can make a difference. Spend some time reading to a child in your life and foster within them a love of reading. If we work together, illiteracy and low literacy is something that we have the power to eradicate.

Click here to review!

Please see email us at lindsay.calder@actionableliteracy.com or click here for the press release and more details.  If there is someone else in your organization that’s more suited to this material, please forward along with our gratitude.

www.openforum.com/search/tag/actionable%20literacy

Best,

Lindsay

The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do, page 75

Reading a great book today by Ken Blanchard, talking about the secret to success for great leaders.  His SERVE philosophy says that every great leader should seek to serve their people, engage and develop others and reinvent continuously.  It’s that reinvention part where the learning comes in and also where the authors who have contributed to the Actionable Literacy project come in.  These are great men and women, on the cutting edge of creative thought in their fields, seeking to share their messages with anyone who cares to listen.  For me, it’s their lessons and what I’ve taken away from those lessons that have enabled me to be successful in my career, build the relationships I’ve chosen and also encouraged me to take chances I might not have taken.

Living in Canada, I’m lucky to have all the access in the world to these thought leaders and the resources the AL Project DVD gives me.  But what about those in countries served by Room to Read? How would the world be different if kids in Bangladesh, India and Zambia could be inspired by words and books and authors?  This is exactly what Room to Read strives to find out – by empowering boys and girls in these developing nations and inspiring them to grown further than they would have thought possible.  The way out of poverty is education and learning for these kids and your $25 purchase of a DVD will be one momentous push in that direction.

For me, the best part about Room to Read and what they’re doing is that they’re not just doing an incredible job with the children and their literacy but they’re also supporting the families and communities by offering opportunities for everyone to be involved.  With all around support like that, how could they not succeed?

Our first annual Actionable Literacy Project builds on the success of our “From the Horse’s Mouth” Interview series and takes those interviews to the next level.  We’re pleased to announce the participation of the following author’s already with more announcements coming really soon!

1. Seth Godin
2. Gary Vaynerchuk
3. Sally Hogshead
4. Max Lenderman
5. Roger Martin
6. Gina Mollicone-Long
7. Dan Pink

Net proceeds from the $25 DVD will go directly to an incredible charity, Room to Read.  That’s $20/DVD we’re planning to donate!  If you don’t know about Room to Read and the amazing work they’re doing to support literacy and girl’s education around the world, take some time and check them out. You’ll be glad you did!