International Literacy Day: The Power of Literacy

Today, September 8, is International Literacy Day. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, first proclaimed International Literacy Day in the mid-1960s.

Worldwide, 776 million, or one in five, adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women while 75 million children are out of school. Literacy is a human right that is at the heart of basic education for all. It is essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.

In this technological age, many educational institutions are taking literacy beyond the basics to Information Literacy (or Information Competency or Information Fluency). Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. Work with us at the Louis J. Blume Library in developing and refining your information competency skills!