Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, humans in literate societies have sets of practices for producing and consuming writing, and they also have beliefs about these practices. Reading, in this view, is always reading something for some purpose; writing is always writing something for someone for some purpose. Beliefs about reading, writing and their value for society and for the individual always influence the ways literacy is taught, learned, and practiced.
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia governed by an independent Board of Trustees as per the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation is a separate 501c3 non-profit with its own board of directors and serves to support the mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia through philanthropic dollars.
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) is the oldest and largest non-profit children's literacy organization in the United States. RIF provides books and reading resources to children nationwide with supporting literacy resources for educators, families, and community volunteers.
Family literacy is a method of education. Relatively new, family literacy is being put into practice in the United States, Canada, and South Africa.
A school library is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources. The goal of the school library media center is to ensure that all members of the school community have equitable access "to books and reading, to information, and to information technology." A school library media center "uses all types of media... is automated, and utilizes the Internet [as well as books] for information gathering." School libraries are distinct from public libraries because they serve as "learner-oriented laboratories which support, extend, and individualize the school's curriculum... A school library serves as the center and coordinating agency for all material used in the school."
Before the arrival of European settlers, who introduced a formal education system addressed to the elites, education in Ghana was mainly informal and based on apprenticeship. Economic activities in pre-colonial Ghana were based on farm produce shared within households and members of each household specialized in providing necessities such as cooking utilities, shelter, clothing, and furniture, and trade with other households was therefore practiced on a very small scale. As such there was no need for employment outside the household that would have otherwise called for disciplines, values, and skills through a formal education system. After colonization, Ghana's economy became a hybrid of subsistence and formal economy.
The South San Francisco Public Library is located in South San Francisco, California. It is an independent city library and part of the Peninsula Library System, a consortium of city, county, and community college libraries in San Mateo County. The library holds approximately 166,000 volumes and has 29,000 borrowers. In the fiscal year 2007-2008, the library circulated 687,000 items. The library provides access to homebound delivery services, numerous children's programs, a literacy program, a community learning center, 77 public computers, and free Wi-Fi.
After-school activities, also known as after-school programs or after-school care, started in the early 1900s mainly just as supervision of students after the final school bell. Today, after-school programs do much more. There is a focus on helping students with school work but can be beneficial to students in other ways. An after-school program, today, will not limit its focus on academics but with a holistic sense of helping the student population. An after-school activity is any organized program that youth or adult learner voluntary can participate in outside of the traditional school day. Some programs are run by a primary or secondary school, while others are run by externally funded non-profit or commercial organizations. After-school youth programs can occur inside a school building or elsewhere in the community, for instance at a community center, church, library, or park. After-school activities are a cornerstone of concerted cultivation, which is a style of parenting that emphasizes children gaining leadership experience and social skills through participating in organized activities. Such children are believed by proponents to be more successful in later life, while others consider too many activities to indicate overparenting. While some research has shown that structured after-school programs can lead to better test scores, improved homework completion, and higher grades, further research has questioned the effectiveness of after-school programs at improving youth outcomes such as externalizing behavior and school attendance. Additionally, certain activities or programs have made strides in closing the achievement gap, or the gap in academic performance between white students and students of color as measured by standardized tests. Though the existence of after-school activities is relatively universal, different countries implement after-school activities differently, causing after-school activities to vary on a global scale.
Education in Mali is considered a fundamental right of Malians. For most of Mali's history, the government split primary education into two cycles which allowed Malian students to take examinations to gain admission to secondary, tertiary, or higher education. Mali has recently seen large increases in school enrollment due to educational reforms.
Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa (VPWA) is a volunteer-driven, non-profit NGO based in Ghana, which aims to promote opportunities for the underprivileged through sustainable development initiatives. VPWA has pioneered several social innovations in the region, including micro leasing, the establishment of a Children and Youth Development Centre in the Eastern Region of Ghana, and campaigns such as Deworm Ghana, Green Ghana, Kick Malaria Out, and Street Library.
Susan Neuman is an educator, researcher, and education policy-maker in early childhood and literacy development. In 2013, she became Professor of Early Childhood and Literacy Education, and Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
A sighted child who is reading at a basic level should be able to understand common words and answer simple questions about the information presented. They should also have enough fluency to get through the material in a timely manner. Over the course of a child's education, these foundations are built on to teach higher levels of math, science, and comprehension skills. Children who are blind not only have the education disadvantage of not being able to see: they also miss out on the very fundamental parts of early and advanced education if not provided with the necessary tools.
The National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU), founded in 1997, is a non-government organization that brings together associations and institutions within Uganda’s book sector to promote authorship, publishing and a culture of reading in Uganda.
Child Aid is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Portland, Oregon, working to promote literacy in Latin America. According to Child Aid's mission statement, the organization works to "create opportunity for Latin America's rural and indigenous poor through childhood literacy and education programs."
The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach is the public library of the City of West Palm Beach, Florida.
Worldreader is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit organization working with partners to try to get children reading at least 25 books, mostly digital, a year with understanding.
The Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF) is a private foundation established in 1993 and located in Agawam, Massachusetts. It is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization charitable organization with the goal of "enhancing Jewish and community life in Western Massachusetts, North America, Israel, and beyond."
Mobile literacy in South Africa refers to a range of informal education projects and initiatives that support literacy and digital fluency using mobile devices, especially mobile phones. It is also known by the abbreviation mLiteracy.
The African Storybook (ASb) is a multilingual literacy initiative that works with educators and children to publish openly licensed picture storybooks for early reading in the languages of Africa. An initiative of Saide, the ASb has an interactive website that enables users to read, create, download, translate, and adapt storybooks. The initiative addresses the dire shortage of children's storybooks in African languages, crucial for children's literacy development. As of March 2023, the website had 3 800 original titles, 7 266 translations and 236 languages represented.
The Ghana Library Authority, established in 1950 as the Ghana Library Board, was the first public library service in sub-Saharan Africa. The public library movement in Ghana began in 1928, as a personal effort of the then Anglican Bishop Orfeur Anglionby of Accra. In 1946, the Aglionby Library Management Committee worked with the British Council Advisory Committee, towards library development in the then Gold Coast. In 2018 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo appointed a Ghanaian Social Entrepreneur, Hayford Siaw as GhLA Chief Executive Officer. In May 2021, the Authority was shortlisted for the LBF International Excellence Awards in the 'Library of the Year' Category.
