Why YOU should read and why YOU should encourage reading!

In an email with Jim Jennewein, co-author of Rune Warriors, I mentioned the following experience. He strongly suggested I should post the experience.

I was on the board of VITA which is a local non-profit that promotes literacy. VITA also was the largest provider of literacy training in the Bucks County Prison system. We had a board meeting in the prison one time to discuss the program with some of the inmates. A very scary looking 30 something guy was so proud of the fact that our program had gotten him to the point that he could read at a 6th grade level. He said that just that week he had finished the first book he had ever read. He ascribes illiteracy as a major factor in crime. He said his inability to read made people think he was stupid and they treated him like he was stupid. He said that made him angry and made it easier to steal from them. Between the demeanor, tattoos and attitude this was a guy you would cross the street to avoid and yet he was so grateful for our program and his learning to read. He said he had a three year old daughter and when he got out he was going to make sure she learned to read because he didn’t want her ending up like him.

Being a life long, early reader and making sure my kids and grandkids love to read, I frankly was flabbergasted listening to this career criminal. It is just amazing that there are so many people out there who can’t read. VITA estimates there are 60,000 functionally illiterate people in Bucks County which is one of the most affluent counties in Pennsylvania. The stats are staggering.

Please read and encourage all the children you have contact with to read. If you teach a child to read recreationally, to really enjoy curling up with a book, you will positively impact that child’s entire life.

Teen Tech Week by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Assoc.)

This sounds pretty cool. “Teen Tech Week 2010 is March 7-13!
Teen Tech Week is a national initiative aimed at teens, librarians, educators, parents, and other concerned adults meant to encourage teens to take advantage of libraries' nonprint resources. The 2010 theme — Learn Create Share @ your library — fosters teen creativity and positions the library as a physical and virtual place for safe exploration of the many types of technology available at libraries, including DVDs, music, gaming, video production, online homework help, social networking, tech workshops, audiobooks and more.” (Direct from the YALSA Site)

Sourcebooks, one of the companies that provide me with books to review has jumped on Teen Tech Week to also promote teens reading. Their site has a bunch of very cool things going on to coincide with Teen Tech Week.

TeenFire is a social networking site that promotes the titles that Sourcebooks represents but it also promotes reading in general. Check out TeenFire and Teen Tech Week. The more kids we can get to read, the less we have to worry about their future!

International Literacy Day

We all know the joke about what assume means. Well most of us assume that everyone else is literate. As a matter of fact in my home county there are 60,000 functionally illiterate people. That is a correct number and everyone I have mentioned that to has been astounded. Bucks County is an affluent suburb of Philadelphia. We are not a 3rd world country. We have a terrific county wide library system and yet look at that number.

What does illiteracy mean? It means you can't read the instructions on a gas pump. You can read the want ads in the paper which leads to your being unemployed. It often means anger and frustration. A large number of incarcerated folks are illiterate but not stupid. Being treated as if you are stupid tends to encourage some people to violence and aggression. Illiteracy doesn't just mean you can't sit down and read a book, it means your entire way of life is impacted negatively.

Now ponder not an affluent suburb but a third world country where illiteracy may be at 90% or more. You don't need to read to pull yourself up by your bootstraps but if you intend to do anything but lift your body, literacy is crucial.

September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Celebrations take place around the world. Some 774 million adults lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women; 72.1 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.

Toe the line, or else!

I sent an email today to Kathleen Parker, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post Writers Group. She wrote a column that was critical of Sarah Palin. Today’s column dealt with the reaction she got from writing that column. She has written columns for over 20 years and she was shocked at the tone of her mail. It was not just negative; it was “vicious and threatening”. The rest of today’s column dealt with her feelings on the demise of civil and intelligent public discourse.

Parker a conservative apparently shocked her less flexible supporters who no doubt felt betrayed when she responded negatively to the current conservative heroine. Regardless of what you feel about Kathleen Parker or Sarah Palin, it is difficult to conceive of the necessity of writing a columnist threatening mail because of their opinion.

Why, pray tell, am I discoursing on this on a blog devoted to books. Perhaps the same narrow minded, hate spewing, mail writing individuals are the same “well read” book banners we see at school board meetings trying to remove classic literature from our libraries.

Literacy is not the answer to everything but if our children are exposed to different ideas and thoughts through the books they read, perhaps they will grow up with a greater tolerance for those who disagree with them. Our nation was founded on freedom, freedom of speech and expression. The lack of civility, of politeness is despairingly common.

The next time you feel an urge to work over Bill O’Wrongly as he shouts over his guests, or to spill beer on an opposing sports fan, consider for a moment that behaving as a boor seldom prevents a boorish response.

Righteously assuming that if you are reading a book blog, you are literate and based on literacy, reasonably intelligent and open minded; please do what you can to promote reading with your kids, your peers and your community. We must not become a society of illiterate boors, spewing hate, banning books and running rough shod over anyone who disagrees with our opinions.

As I stopped above, it occurred to me that wasn’t a particularly hopeful blog. On a note of hope, look at the number of people who are blogging on books. Look at the number of sites promoting books. The barbarians have not overrun us yet! There are still huge numbers of good people wishing and working for a better life and better society. The frequency of kind words and good thoughts I see on the book swap sites I peruse help me to realize that we still have peers of good note, who are working to make a civil society.

Swaptree Not So Hot

Swaptree is an online swapping service where you can swap CDs, DVD’s and books with folks from all over. Premise is good, site is a bit sketchy, customer support is non-existent. SWAPTREE has no tech support, none, butkus, zip, nada, zero support. I have emailed their support, their contact or anyone who might answer and there is nobody there. If they have support then apparently they really are terrible since I got no response on any emails I have sent.

I wonder who did they pay off on Good Morning America to get recommended. Good Morning America, what were you thinking? There are several much better sites that actually have human beings involved with them.

I have a book on my wish list, Swaptree keep offering me a copy of the book that says specifically the pages have been waterlogged but it is readable. Admittedly I am a bit anal about books. (Probably more than a bit) I have told them at least four (4) times that I don’t want to swap for that specific book due to it’s condition. Every 8 or 10 days they try and get me to take it again. So their software needs some attention since there is no human being there to intervene as a response to my email asking them to stop offering me that book. They also sternly warn me that I will get less trades if I keep turning down books on my wish list, in spite of the fact it is the same blasted book, over and over.

Now if their software was better they could at least pretend to respond to email with automated responses but they aren’t even that good.

I have found Book Mooch and PaperbackSwap much better. I have gotten a much friendly reaction from the people using both those sites than I have from Swaptree. Both Book Mooch and Paperback Swap allow you to send books to others and bank the resulting points to use when books you want become available.

Titletrader is a bit different. The site looks like it would have been right at home on Compuserve bulletin board 25 years ago. The major benefit to TitleTrader is that you can trade “stuff” for books. Of course you can trade stuff for stuff too but I am the book nut, remember! I have posted electronics on there and you get points when someone takes what you posted. You can then use those points to redeem books or stuff. So far I have shipped some stuff and haven’t gotten any books yet, but I am hoping it works.

In all fairness to SwapTree, I like being able to swap my un-listened to CDs for books. Their concept is cumbersome though. You can’t bank points like the other services, you must have someone who wants what you have before you can initiate a trade. Sometimes the trades are three way or even more. You can see that complicates matters and means that trades occur far less often than on the other sites I have mentioned.

On the unlikely chance that anyone at SwapTree reads and or reads this, you really need to try answering your email. A total lack of concern for the people using your service will eventually force your demise, particularly when there are similar services that are substantially easier to use and have a responsive customer service department. (or at least someone who listens)

Will I keep using SwapTree? I will probably continue to use them since I like trading CD’s for books. Am I happy with them? You be the judge.