From 8 to 14 September is the Week of Reading and Writing. The perfect time to draw attention to low literacy. In the Netherlands, 2.5 million adults have difficulties with reading, writing and/or arithmetic. Also Eindhoven Library pays extra attention to low literacy in this period.
Low-literates often also have trouble using a computer or mobile phone, for example. In Eindhoven, this concerns seven percent of adults, but it is also a problem among young people. One in four 15-year-olds has a language deficiency. When this group leaves school, they risk becoming the new generation of low-literates.
Having difficulty with basic skills has major consequences. It makes people vulnerable: less self-reliant, less socially active and less healthy than people who do not struggle with these. On 8 September, it is World Literacy Day. The Stichting Lezen en Schrijven (Reading and Writing Foundation) calls the whole of the Netherlands to take action against low literacy.
Eindhoven Library has plenty of information. On the library’s website, you can also watch the documentary series ‘Reading is Silver, Silence is Gold’, (in Dutch) which the library made together with Studio040 in 2018 about low literacy. Or you can read about a reading offensive and watch several videos (many in Dutch).
Source: Studio040
