Buy a vowel, or a consonant, to support literacy in ABC campaign

ABC Life Literacy Canada has found a creative way to fundraise by selling the letters of the alphabet to corporate sponsors in its Letters for Literacy campaign. Now in its 3rd year, it is an opportunity for magazine/media companies to step up in promoting literacy.

“With numerous non-profits and fundraisers trying to be heard, we wanted to be creative and step outside of the traditional box,” says Margaret Eaton, president, ABC Life Literacy Canada. “With the support of corporate sponsors, ABC can continue to provide programming and learning resources to adults, their families and the literacy community.  ” 

By purchasing "exclusive" rights to an individual letter, sponsors make a commitment to support ABC's literacy campaigns and resources. Funding goes to such things as Family Literacy Day, LEARN awareness campaign, and the development and production of free literacy resources to non-profit literacy organizations, schools and libraries. 

Some letters are already spoken for; among those sponsors already signed on are De Beers Canada  (the letter D), Homewood Suites by Hilton (T), Ernst & Young (E) and Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (G).  Also spoken for are H, N, P, R, S and U. The deadline to purchase one of the 16 letters that remain is March 16. 

Nominations now being received for Gzowski fellowship for literacy

Nominations are now being accepted for the Peter Gzowski Life Literacy Fellowship in honour of the late beloved broadcaster, magazine and newspaper editor and writer. 

The fellowship is administered by ABC Life Literacy Canada and provides one journalist with $3,000 to research and develop a story about adult literacy in Canada. The 2010 winner of the first fellowship was Susan Quinlan of the Prairie Post West newspaper (you can read her story here). Interested writers can find more information about the submissions and submit their story idea here.

Gzowski was managing editor and later editor of Maclean's magazine, entertainment editor of the Toronto Star, editor of the Star Weekly. He become best known for hosting CBC Radio's This Country in the Morning and its successor Morningside. 

Heavily invested in the literacy movement, which seeks to address the fact that four out of 10 Canadian adults struggle with low literacy, Gzowski founded the PGI Golf Tournaments for Literacy in 1986, vowing to raise $1 million; to date the tournaments have raised more than $10 million net, one of the most successful fundraisers for literacy in Canada. 

Time for a magazine writer to win this, we think.  Lots of time to come up with a good idea; applications close on Friday, August 19.

National Reading Summit to be held in Montreal Jan 20 and 21

The TD National Reading Summit II is one month away. It takes place at La Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal Thursday, January 20 and Friday, January 21. 

The conference was started two years ago by a group of concerned librarians, parent activists, booksellers, teachers, publishers and corporate leaders who wanted to create a national reading strategy as a lynchpin for responsible citizenship. The first summit was in Toronto. The third is scheduled for next year in Vancouver.

The complete program is available. The opening keynote address is by author, professor and screenwriter Antonine Maillet.

Quarter of a million attended Word on the Street events across Canada

Word on the Street, the national magazine and book festival, is reported to have drawn 250,000 people in cities across the country on Sunday, September 26. Toronto's festival, the biggest, was in its 21st year and other cities were Vancouver, Kitchener and Halifax. Saskatoon held a preview event for its first WOTS to occur in 2011.

"The growing success of The Word On The Street festivals across Canada continues to demonstrate our national passion for the written word and advocacy for literacy", noted Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, national board chair, The Word On The Street Canada, in a release. "We expect to expand this national celebration as new cities have expressed their interest in joining The Word On The Street festival".

Almost half of Canadians will continue to have low literacy skills, says report

One thing all magazines have in common is the need for a steady supply of people with decent reading skills. But according to the Canadian Council on Learning in a comprehensive study called Reading the Future, more than 15 million people aged 16 and over -- representing about 46 per cent of the population -- will have skills below the internationally accepted standard of literacy by 2031. This according to a story carried by The Vancouver Sun.

Essentially, the report attacks the complacent view of Canadians that adult literacy is getting steadily better; in fact, the proportion of low literacy will remain virtually unchanged projected through 2031.

• Senior citizens with low literacy skills will double to more than 6.2 million
• Immigrants with substandard skills will soar by more than 61 per cent
• The proportion of young adults who have difficulty in reading and comprehension will remain virtually the same.
• The number of Canadian adults with high literacy skills will increase but won't offset the growing populations of groups with low literacy skills.

"It isn't a good picture and it's contrary to what people had assumed. People had assumed because education is better than it's been in previous generations, and because young people are more literate than older people, that the problem would take care of itself over time, but what this shows is it definitely will not," said Dr. Paul Cappon, president and CEO of the council...."What I'm hoping is that the current conditions that we are describing that give rise to these projections, won't be the case if we do something about it," he said.

The study determined that most adults with low literacy skills feel those abilities are "adequate" for their work, that many have not finished high school, that a large proportion have jobs and that many have negative attitudes toward computers.

Magazines donate ad page space to literacy

A group of Canadian magazines, newspapers and outdoor media companies have donated ad space worth about $800,000 to the cause of literacy. This is the 8th year for the Gutenberg Media Grab. Donated ad space is sold at 65% off rate card value and all proceeds go to ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation.

The money goes to support initiatives that raise public awareness of the issue of low literacy among Canadian adults, direct individuals to literacy organizations in their community, and provide resources that support and encourage the development of workplace literacy and essential skills training across Canada.

"We are most grateful for the generosity of this country's major newspaper and magazine publishers, and major outdoor media," says Margaret Eaton, President, ABC CANADA. "Offering people the chance to buy major media at a fraction of its usual price is a great win for media buyers and for ABC CANADA."

Anyone interested in ad space need only register for the sale by going to abcmediagrab.ca. The registration deadline is Friday, April 18, and the first-come, first-served sale starts promptly at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 21. All purchases must be new business and cannot be counted against existing or future space commitments. Ads must be placed by December 31.

Among the magazines participating: Canadian Business, Canadian Gardening, Canadian Living Magazine, Chatelaine, Cottage Life, ELLE Canada, Explore, Glow, Harrowsmith Country Life, Homemakers, Maclean's, MoneySense, PROFIT, Report on Business Magazine, Style at Home, Tidings - Canada's Food & Wine Magazine, TIME, Today's Parent, Vancouver Magazine, Western Living and Zoomer Magazine.

International Reading Association invades Toronto

A major event in the literacy world is the annual conference of the International Reading Association, this year being held in Toronto (Monday 14th through Thursday 17th at the Metro Convention Centre). There is a lineup of inspiring speakers and workshops too long to list here, but which can be found at the association's conference website. Canadian non-members can attend for C$230 a day or C$500 for the whole event.

Gzowski prize recognizes doing something good for literacy

If there's someone at your magazine who deserves to be recognized for services to literacy in this country, now's the time to enter them (or yourself) for the Peter Gzowski Award of Merit. It's a prize awarded by ABC Canada Literacy Foundation.

The competition is open to all professional journalists working and residing in Canada. Journalists may submit their own work, or nominate the work of another. Entries may be of either a local or national interest, and may be based on reporting analysis, commentary, special sections, features or series.

Work for magazines, newspaper, television news and features, radio and the internet are all eligible.Entries for the 2007 competition must have been published, broadcast or posted online between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. All entries must be received on or before June 15.

The winner will be announced September 5 in Toronto; a $1,000 donation is made to the literacy organization of their choice on their behalf.

Editor, writer and CBC radio personality Peter Gzowski vowed in 1986 to raise $1 million in his lifetime to benefit community-based literacy organizations. To date the PGI Golf Tournaments for Literacy he founded have raised more than $10 million net, making this initiative the most successful fundraiser for literacy in Canada.

ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is the national charity committed to raising awareness about family, adult and workplace literacy issues. ABC CANADA's focus is on public awareness programs, providing promotional support to local literacy groups, and conducting research to further the development of a fully literate Canadian population.