Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad.

The 3 R's - r eading, [w] r iting & [a] r ithmetic. Aah, once upon a time it was so easy to define literacy and what made a person literate. While Basic Skills Tests imposed on schools might still try to measure this simplistic idea of literacy, today's educators [should] know better.

The following articles that question our view of literacy are well worth reading:

History of Literacy
http://www.ku.edu/~stl/historyofliteracy.htm [University of Kansas]

Literacy needs new definition, prof. says
By David J. Cieslak Arizona Daily Wildcat February 19, 1998
http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/91/100/06_1_m.html

Is Literacy Over-Rated?
Referenced commentary by uni of Aberdeen student, Anna Brill
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/alb9601.html

Expanding the Concept of Literacy
This article discusses a new definition of literacy which states, "Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate messages in a variety of forms." The concept of "text" is expanded to include messages of all sorts.
http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/mlr/readings/articles/hobbs/expanding.html
"the new vision of literacy reflects the kind of authentic learning which occurs when reading and writing occur in contexts where "process, product and content are all interrelated" (Edelsky, Altwerger and Flores, 1991, p. 9), and where language skills and language learning are conceived of as being inherently social processes, requiring direct engagement and experience tied to meaningful activity."

Did you know that 2003 to 2012 is the United Nations Literacy Decade?

The 21st Literacies as defined by Pacific Bell/UCLA Initiatives for 21st Century Literacies are: information, media, multicultural, and visual literacies...and are "vital skills needed to flourish in today's society and in the future". No mention of 3Rs here!

In my presentations I often refer to these new literacies, or multi-literacies :

the traditional...
and not-so-traditional....
I also go on to point out that all these are in fact covered by the umbrella term of information literacy - a fairly predictable conclusion from a teacher librarian!

Whenever information is sought and used, all these other literacies come into play.

However developing the Reading skills of our students remains an important part of the teacher librarian role. ICTs certainly consume an increasing amount of our time, but we do well not to neglect this aspect of our role.

Giving book talks, story telling, organising visiting authors/illustrators, book displays etc are some of the ways we do this. In Australia we celebrate "Book Week" in August, when the Children's Book Council of Australia announce the winners of the short-listed books for various awards. Visit their site to get a reasonable sampling of quality Australian fiction and non-fiction. Links to other awards are listed on the Reading and Literacy Links page. For more ideas on literature promotion check this page of ideas from other professionals.