NSW PUBLIC LIBRARIES LITERACY WORKING GROUP
DATE: 28th November 2017 VENUE: State Library NSW
Points of communication · The Literacy Group will now meet 3 times a year instead of 3 · The feedback from the Literacy Forum survey will be used to help choose topics for discussion at future meetings and forums · PTE resources are now becoming more popular the IELTS · Kate O’Grady will now represent the SL on the Literacy Working Group
ATTENDEES: Kasia Malicka Burwood, Jacqueline Elstein Mosman, Kate O’Grady State Library, Marilyn Shamayl for Wendy Gindi Canterbury/Bankstown, Jacinta Craine Sutherland, Julie Just Ku-ring-gai, Abir El-Lahib City of Sydney,
Jill Finch Reading Writing Hotline, Shane Clancy Library AV & Large Print Pty Ltd
Chairperson: Jacinta Craine Secretary: Julie Just
1. Welcome - Jacinta
2. Apologies Robert Stewart Cessnock Liz McCutchen Gilgandra Christiane Birkett Gunnedah Natalie Funston Rockdale Debbie Horgan Midcoast Council Jacqueline Talbot Lane Cove
3. Matters arising from previous Minutes
Minutes accepted by Kasia Malicka Seconded by Jacinta Craine
4. AGM
Jacinta Craine was voted in as President again – Nominated by herself Julie Just was voted in as Secretary – Nominated by Jacinta Craine and Jacqueline Elstein
5. Presentation by Shane Clancy, Managing director of Library AV and Large Print Pty Ltd re dyslexic print
Shane Clancy who also spoke at the SWITCH conference this year gave a very interesting presentation on dyslexic books available through his company. Many of the important points about the publications he sells are given in the handout he supplied (see attachment at the bottom of the page)
Shane has a strong background in libraries and book selling including working at Ryde as a technician and at Bolinda with audio books. His company Library AV & Large Print started 12 years ago and is a niche company for large print and audio books.
The books Shane supplies have Dyslexic font which is specifically designed for people with dyslexia. It includes features such as large print, heavy bottom, inclined letters and better spacing. Griffin Press prints books for him on demand and he has 850 Children’s/Young Adult titles and 200 Adult titles available. Due to production costs the books are more expensive than regular books. A children’s book that might cost $12 would cost $20 and adult books are priced similarly to large print. Previously dyslexic books had “dyslexic books” on the front cover in large bold print. Now it is simply “db” to allow people searching for them to still easily identify them but with more discreet labelling. Libraries often shelve dyslexic books with large print.
The group decided that we should create a core list of 50 – 100 of Shane’s books (Including adults and childrens) and put it on the wiki. It will have to be updated regularly. SLNSW may be able to do bulk purchases for us. We should talk to the staff who purchase in our libraries to see if there is a demand.
See Attachments below for a brochure on this product range.
6. Update from Reading Writing Hotline
Jill Finch came updated us on Reading Writing Hotline. The core business is calls coming in and this really does vary with advertising campaigns. They are continually updating their databases to keep abreast of change. With the introduction of the NDIS it is now not as easy to apply literacy criteria and they are still trying to clarify what can be done. The Literacy conference in Darwin had a focus on Indigenous literacy. They Hotline is expanding their focus to engage more with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and they are getting a lot more calls from regional towns.
They now have 24 years of statistics so are looking at trends over time. In 1994 the typical caller was and English speaking bloke from the country and it is still the same today.
Vanessa is encouraging volunteer literacy tutor programs and is talking to the Mid-North coast Library about their success. People often find regular classes hard to get to, but appreciate volunteers in the library. Victoria is trying to get funding for an adult literacy portal that they want to expand. Jacqueline Elstein pointed out that Mid-Coast TAFE has a portal that you can access for a small fee. The commonwealth Work Place Literacy Program was closed some years ago and there is the ongoing problem that TAFE is now targeting literacy towards the workplace.
Some people have no options for access to material so they are still mailing out packages.
7. Feedback from the participant’s survey on the Literacy Forum
Julie Just presented the results of the participant’s survey for the 2017 Literacy Forum (Lit Up Forum 2017 Survey Results.pdf). 37 people responded to the survey and the response to the forum and speakers was very positive with Associate Professor Kaye Lowe’s talk receiving particular comment. People appreciated her skill and empathy used when supporting adults in their endeavours to read. While we all enjoyed the theoretical speakers, some attendees felt they were talking to the converted and we would benefit from having more practical speakers who can help us with setting up programs etc. Even so there were many comments about how the theoretical speakers revealed the issues associated with living without adequate literacy skills. 70% of the attendees would like to attend the next Literacy Forum. 73% found it was an effective way of raising their awareness of issues affecting literacy services for their libraries. A number felt that the talks were too rushed and there should have been more time for Q & A. It was also suggested that there should be a tea break in the middle of the session to allow more time for networking. The attendees appreciated the incites the speakers provided about the issues involved in learning to read and the different approaches needed for different groups ( e.g. ESL, English speakers, children). They also appreciated the information on on-line tutoring and volunteers. The respondents were asked what area of literacy they found most challenging. One of the recurring issues is identifying and targeting the English speaking people who need literacy help, especially as they avoid acknowledging their problems, often due to shame. There were also challenges in promoting the programs, and maintaining commitment and attendance from the students. For more detail please see the attachment at this bottom of this page.
8. What do we want to highlight at each meeting next year
It was suggested that we look more closely at the survey results to identify areas for investigation next year. One suggestion was to identify libraries we can show case for their literacy programs and initiatives (Southport, QLD is a good example).
9. Professional reading
PTE resources are becoming more popular than IELTS. Some are listed on the wiki: http://plnswliteracy.wikifoundry.com/page/PTE+Resources
10. State Library representative Report
Kate O’Grady is now overseeing the Literacy Working Group this year and will keep us update us on State Library NSW.
11. Set meeting dates for 2018
It was agreed to reduce the number of meeting annually from 4 to 3.
Tuesday 13 March, 2 to 4pm – Outreach - Ku-ring-gai Library
Tuesday 19 June, 2 to 4pm – NSW Multicultural research results available in March/April 2018 – Tutoring setups – Sutherland Library
Tuesday 30 October, 2 to 4pm – AGM/Strategic Plan - State Library NSW
12. Other business
Jacinta received a letter from the “Little Peoples Literacy Forum”: https://www.alea.edu.au/publicresources/resources-for-parents-and-community/little-peoples-literacy-learning Volunteers from the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA) have written 18 short modules specifically designed for parents and carers. The modules are called "Little People's Literacy Learning" and provide a raft of activities and learning experiences for children from birth - 5 years of age.Please share with your local library users and parent/carer groups or feel free to highlight one module a fortnight, thereby spreading the message over the next 12 months Dr Emilia Djonov emailed asking if it would be ‘possible and usefulfor a member of our research group "Language and Literacies in Education" at the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie Universityto attend that meeting?’ They specialise in language and literacy research across the lifespan and including both formal and informal educational and community contexts. In the end they could not attend this meeting however, we will inform them about our future meetings dates and see if one suits.
13. Next Meeting – 13th March 2018 2pm – 4pm Ku-ring-gai Library.