Literacy

• What is you opinion of the statisitics in the above ABS documents and do you think there is a role for government, schools and other organisations in raising literacy levels and fostering reading?
• Find some examples of  the promotion of literacy and/or  reading by different organisations - libraries, schools, adult education venues, ESL courses bookshops, the media, book councils,  literacy or reading associations etc.
• Has there been any research done on the success of any promotional activities or prgrammes in encouraging reading and the acquisition of higher levels of literacy ? (perhaps a couple of articles could be found  in some scholarly journals)

Start with the basics.
What is a definition of Literacy?
On dictionary.com the definition is :
The quality of state of being literate, especially the ability to read and write; the possession of education; a persons knowledge of a particular subject or field eg computer literacy.

I found a pdf http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Pdf/Literacy dealing with literacy in the curriculum for Australian schools, and one of the lines reads "Language, verbal or non-verbal skills is critical for the development of literacy skills. The definition on the Australian Curriculum website is:
Literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to access, understand, analyse and evaluate information, make meaning, express thoughts and emotions, present ideas and opinions, interact with others and participate in activities at school and in their lives beyond school.

I was shocked at the statistics in the ABS documents. I would like to see the tests that were done to gather the figures. I do believe they were helpful in forcing the government to allocate funding to schools, which is never a bad thing.
In my opinion, the government should have a role, at least in providing funding, to aid in raising the literacy levels. This is the future generations we're talking about, after all!
I looked at the smarter schools site, and read about the results gained from the Smarter Schools National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy. The funding that went into this program was noteworthy - the minimum being $6.1 million for the ACT, up to 136.0 million for NSW.
The focus on literacy and numeracy was decided upon as they are, after all, foundation skills; allowing young people a better chance of achieving at school as well as when they have finished school. The particular focus was on underachieving students, where the biggest gains could be made to most effect.
Searching for promoting literacy, I came across an article from the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) where I found out that the 8th September, 2014 was International Literacy Day 2014 with the theme of Literacy and Sustainable Development.

Here is a sample of literacy promotion, which has been created to give schools ideas on how to promote literature using awards, bookmarks, etc.  http://www.nwt.literacy.ca/resources/famlit/howtokit/caught/caught.pdf

I also found this list of 10 charities that promote literacy :
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/10-charities-that-promote-literacy_b42231

Last year the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) held several promotions to support National Bookshop Day on 10 Aug 2013.

Literacy Programs and their success.

I found a pdf which covered a LOT of research, and included a variety of programs.
Eduweb Victorian Government
In section 5 there is a list of the different programs; it also covers the strengths and weaknesses of the individual programs.
Continuing to read through this extensive pdf, it became apparent that most of the programs were more highly successful than had initially been anticipated.
In some cases, simply raising the awareness of literacy issues can be the trigger to get interventions (if required) in place, The encouragement and enjoyment that most students gain from proving to themselves, and others, that they are capable of improving in their literacy goals can be a huge step forward, for the student, the family, the teachers and the schools.

Given the opportunity to participate in a literacy program, most schools will be happy to get on board. Good teachers are usually able to pinpoint students who would benefit the most from the programs on offer.