{"id":505,"date":"2021-03-10T20:33:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T03:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/nreid\/?p=505"},"modified":"2022-01-10T16:01:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:01:19","slug":"building-literacy-through-developing-libraries-in-developing-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/nreid\/2021\/03\/10\/building-literacy-through-developing-libraries-in-developing-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Literacy through Developing Libraries in Developing Nations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“At a time when we need to reinvent a world of hope, literacy is more important than ever. On this International Day, I thus invite all those involved in education to redouble their investments and mobilize all their resources to unleash the potential of each individual in the service of a shared world.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General, on the occasion of International Literacy Day<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This week I explored a variety of library projects in developing nations and have chosen to focus on CODE and Worldreader.\u00a0 Both of these library projects were new to me and I wanted to explore what type of literacy opportunities these projects offered?\u00a0 What is their outreach?\u00a0 How do they support the local needs of their communities?<\/p>\n

CODE - Promoting Every Child's Right to Read<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a>Started in 1959 by a group of educators, librarians and publishing professionals who created a program of shipping unused books in tea chests to the developing world, registered charity, CODE (Canadian Organization for Development through Education) \u201chas grown into Canada\u2019s leading international development agency focused uniquely on education and literacy\u201d (CODE, 2019). Their mission \u201cis to enable student learning by increasing their access to qualified educators and locally-relevant, high quality learning materials\u201d (CODE, 2019).<\/p>\n
[youtube]https:\/\/youtu.be\/uiN-FDYqgDI[\/youtube]<\/p>\n
CODE offers a number of programs, and I focused on their literacy programs which are designed around: teacher training, books and learning materials, sustaining and scaling.\u00a0 The literacy program focuses on putting books in classrooms that are relatable and written in languages that children understand, as such they engage writers, illustrators and editors \u201cto volunteer to conduct workshops and to mentor local authors and artist on the production of children\u2019s books in over 20 languages\u201d (CODE, 2019).\u00a0 CODE\u2019s literacy program aims to work toward long-term systemic change and they work with community and government stakeholders to facilitate this growth.<\/p>\n
How is CODE creating new literacy opportunities and expanding access to the internet and databases?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
Digital literacy is a key component within CODE\u2019s literacy program.\u00a0 One of the newer initiatives they have centers around using Mobile Learning Labs, in an effort to keep girls in schools.\u00a0 They have placed MLLs in over 20 countries.\u00a0 MLLS use a small server or \u201chot spot\u201d called RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning) which connects educational content to small computers, tablets and smartphones. RACHEL also can be available offline and communities where electricity is a challenge, solar panels can help with connecting devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MLL offers a rich and varied content of open-source learning tools and interactive academic games: content such as Wikipedia Academic,\u00a0KA Lite (Khan Academy\u2019s offline source for math and science tutorials), Fantastic Phonics and Feed the Monster for literacy, as well as thousands of e-books, health encyclopedias, information on agriculture, geography, history, social sciences, and coding. In addition to academic content, the RACHEL also offers access to life skills information. The content of the RACHEL can be custom-loaded for each community\u2019s particular needs and can be modified at any time\u201d (CODE, 2021).<\/p>\n
Other ways of sharing literacy digitally is through radio, which became a central method of delivering content during the pandemic. What struck me what how CODE supports local needs of communities through adapting to environmental and political circumstances.\u00a0 CODE Liberia partnered with 60 Million Girls (a Montreal-based public foundation dedicated to girls\u2019 education in developing countries) to create the MLL in response to the civil war, which disrupted education, the Ebola crisis and in response to the high drop-out rates of girls in schools.\u00a0 The goal of the program is literacy and to keep girls in school, so that they can access a better future.<\/p>\n
Worldreader- Readers Build a Better World<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a>Worldreader is a global, non-profit organization, founded in 2010 and similar to CODE, started with books being taken to developing nations.\u00a0 They expanded to establishing e-reading programs in schools and libraries.\u00a0 In 2013, they \u201claunched Worldreader for mobile phones, making it possible for anyone, anywhere with a data-connected phone to access thousands of digital books\u201d (Worldreader, 2021).<\/p>\n
Worldreader supports reading programs in the US, East, West, and North Africa, India, Latin America, and the Middle East and their technology is central to the community that they provide for.\u00a0 Their technology includes:<\/p>\n
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