literacy
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Spelling Reformed
At The Awl, Annie Abrams gives the history of a 19th-century newspaper, Di Anglo-Sacsun, and its editors’ attempts to make literacy more available to the public, by developing their own phonetic alphabet that the newspaper was written in. Abrams also dives…
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Universal Library Cards
In a plan to boost literacy rates, Scotland is testing a program to give all children automatic library memberships. The pilot program gives library cards out upon birth, reports BBC.
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Shelters for Families, and Books
Twenty homeless shelters serving NYC families will be getting their own libraries as part of a new initiative from the Departments of Education and Homeless Services. The project, supported by Scholastic and a number of literacy organizations, aims to address…
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Weekly Geekery
Vindicating psychiatry. The science of learning to read. Philip K. Dick warned you, but you didn’t listen. This robot can date for you. Love all over the world via Twitter. Studying social engagements and the marriage ones too.
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Russian Novels for Rushing Muscovites
In addition to boasting one of the most beautiful subway systems in the world, Moscow commuters now stand to become the best-read. Per the Guardian, over 100 titles from authors including Pushkin, Chekhov, and Tolstoy are now available for download,…
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Bam! Pow! Laureate!
Joining the distinguished poets and children’s authors of the realm, Dave Gibbons is set to become the UK’s first Comics Laureate. In the Guardian, the artist behind the Watchmen comics shares his vision for a future where graphic novels play a…
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Bringing Literacy to Queens
Only 20% of children in the neighborhood of South Jamaica, Queens, New York, can read at grade level. That number is astoundingly low, but three enterprising young individuals hope to change that through a new non-government organization. They’ve created an…
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The Rumpus Interview with Françoise Mouly
Comic publishing pioneer Françoise Mouly discusses bringing comics to the mainstream, life at The New Yorker, and the burdens of being legendary.
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3D Printing Helps Blind Children Read
3D printing has all sorts of unique applications, and the most recent of these is making it possible for blind and visually impaired children to read classic children’s books like Goodnight Moon and Harold and the Purple Crayon. The project,…
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American Adults Get Worse at Reading
Well, this is terrifying: The reading skills of American adults are significantly lower than those of adults in most other developed countries, according to a new international survey. What’s more, over the last two decades Americans’ reading proficiency has declined…
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The Rumpus Interview with Constance Hale
Constance Hale, who has been called “Marion the Librarian on a Harley, or E. B. White on acid,” talks verbs, literacy in the Digital Age, and why “it’s wrongheaded to think that the path to glory is only through standard…