NEARLY $80,000 RAISED FOR INDIGENOUS LITERACY

AUSTRALIAN READERS’ CHALLENGE REPORT 2006

Thank you for participating in the 2006 Australian Readers’ Challenge. I'm pleased to enclose the final report along with the remarkable successes and achievements. Tara June Winch (age 22), an Indigenous author who wrote 'Swallow the Air', had this to say to everyone who participated in the Australian Readers’ Challenge in 2006.

“What you readers have done, by contributing your time and commitment is not only about a certificate with Ian Thorpe’s signature on it, not only about a cheque for $80,000. You have directly helped give voice to a world, given a language an opportunity to reach out to other readers. You have helped make a path to the merging of two worlds, two languages, two people.

“The readers’ challenge is not only an act of charity; it is an act of reconciliation. It is a healing path, which you all have paved".

“If you’re going to be a writer you have to come from some place” and “If you’re going to be a writer you have to be a reader first”.

“What these literacy programs create are readers first. In the hope, I hope, of writers next. And these writers will come from some place. Stories from an Aboriginal place, a place that needs more and more voice and more and more ears.

“Together, these two worlds create a wider community of understanding and help to re-write and repossess a voice that has for far too long been unheard. Congratulations readers’ challenge on turning walls to bridges.”

Alex Mamo, a 16 year old student from St Augustine’s in Queensland talked about the bridges that were built between two cultures, as students signed up to participate in the challenge.

Alex said “Our bridge was made of paper, and each student that joined the challenge wrote their name on it and as a community we crossed the bridge. But it wasn’t only students who participated. Teachers and parents also had a go at reading the ten books required.  Some parents even read the children’s books to their toddlers and infants, further promoting reading in their child’s life.”

The Measurable Benefits

Over 150,000 books were read for this year’s challenge. Including adults, nearly 14,000 individuals participated; 350 schools were involved, 64 public libraries, 48 bookshops, and 42 book clubs took part. $78,000 was raised from these collective efforts which will turn into almost $160,000 worth of educational resources.

The Immeasurable Benefits

The question asked repeatedly during the challenge was “Can you imagine a world without books and reading?”, and that has been the essence of this challenge, along with the belief that having the opportunity to learn to read is a fundamental human right.  

All of us have ready access to books in our homes, our local libraries, our school libraries and bookshops and it is hard to imagine communities in this affluent country of ours who do not have similar access and opportunities to learn to read. These remote communities are essentially bookless communities, and compounding this problem of lack of resources is the fact that most of the children are learning to read in their 2nd or 3rd language. In some remote communities literacy levels are as low as 7%.

Funds Raised

The monies raised this year are targeted for a number of projects in the Jawoyn communities, which lie east of Katherine in the Northern Territory. These communities were selected by The Fred Hollows Foundation as needing support because of serious problems with health and illiteracy.
 
The projects include:

• The purchase of books for a new library at Wugularr School which will be open in February 2007 for the new school year. The Australian Booksellers’ Association will continue to provide catalogues of titles to the school to help them select suitable books. Then the association will purchase the books from publishers, negotiating the highest possible discount. Our goal is to turn the $80,000 raised into $160,000 worth of books.
• Books, particularly cookbooks, and other early childhood learning resources will be provided for the Women’s Centre and Creche in Wugularr.
• Books and learning resources focusing on environmental health, nutrition, household maintenance, gardening etc will be provided for the ‘Happy Healthy Homes’ project – a mobile resource centre packed with information for distribution to Jawoyn communities.
• Some money will be used for buying book vouchers for children experiencing reading success to take an excursion, travelling a couple of hundred kilometres to a local bookshop, to choose a book for themselves.

The money raised also paid for a young girl, Kate George, who has experienced great progression in her literacy skills to take a trip with her guardian to Sydney to see a Bell Shakespeare production of Moby Dick. They also visited Taronga Park Zoo, Bondi Beach, the Opera House, the State Library and Luna Park. The principal of Wugularr School said the trip has been really encouraging for the whole community. The community saw how reading opens doors and creates opportunities such as Kate’s trip, which in turn has acted as a real motivator for children learning to read.

Booklists

One of the great successes of the readers’ challenge was the booklists that were created for you to select the books you read from. We got a lot of positive feedback about these booklists. It took many hours to pull those booklists together and particular thanks must be given to the book selection committee: Jane Connolly from Brisbane Catholic Education; James Moloney, author; Penelope Davie, children’s book specialist; and Suzy Wilson.

Website

Particular thanks also to Nick Hughes from Riverbend Books, who created the website: www.readerschallenge.com.au It was a simply enormous job to achieve a clean and easy to navigate site which Nick performed with such energy and good spirit.

Australian Readers’ Challenge Committee

Most sincere thanks to the members of the management committee (see list of members below).They all volunteered their efforts to make the challenge happen, with the most generous of spirits.

Planning for  2007

In 2007, Indigenous literacy will become the core fundraising project for the Australian Book Industry.

The Indigenous Literacy Project committee is currently planning exciting activities for Publishers, Booksellers, Libraries and Schools. Activities will focus on 5 September 2007, and Australians of all ages will be invited to stop and read for Indigenous literacy while making a gold coin donation

Please note, that while we have had tremendous success with the readers’ challenge format over the past three years there will not be a readers’ challenge in 2007.  The twin constraints of time and cost, as well as confusion with state-based reading challenges, provide the perfect opportunity to do something completely different next year.

We hope that you will continue to support our efforts. We will advise you of our plans for 2007 as soon as possible. In the meantime, please mark 5 September 2007 in your diary today!  

Conclusion

The Australian Readers’ Challenge has been a special project that has achieved much in both measurable and immeasurable terms, raising the profile of books and reading in schools and the wider community, and providing much needed support to address the crisis in Indigenous literacy.

And finally to all the children who took part, your contribution may seem like a small thing to you, but when you add up lots of small things you can make something big. It is a wonderful thing that so many children and adults came together to make this challenge happen. Together we can help turn the tide on Indigenous illiteracy.

Suzy Wilson
Chair, Australian Readers’ Challenge

ARC Committee 2006
Lou Johnson [Allen & Unwin]
Peter Eichhorn [Allen & Unwin]
Gary Anderson [Allen & Unwin]
Robyn Huppert [Australian Booksellers Association]
Barbara Cullen [Australian Booksellers Association]
Karen Williams [ARC Project Manager]
Jane Connolly [Brisbane Catholic Education]
David Gaunt [Gleebooks]
Chris Raine [Hachette Livre]
Christine Farmer [Harper Collins Australia]
Jeff McMullen [Ian Thorpe's Fountain for youth Trust]
Michelle Flaskas [Ian Thorpe's Fountain for youth Trust]
Paul Kenny [Pan Macmillan]
Kristin Gill [Penguin Group]
Cheryl Akle [Random House]
Suzy Wilson [Riverbend Books]
Nick Hughes [Riverbend Books]
Philip Dennett [Scholastic Australia]
Virginia Sarah [The Fred Hollows Foundation]
Brian Doolan [The Fred Hollows Foundation]