South Dublin celebrates International Literacy Day

Press Release Issued 7th September 2009

South Dublin celebrates International Literacy Day

International Literacy Day, 2009 focuses on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development.

South Dublin County Council Libraries are launching new programmes on Literacy Day:

• A promotion of TTRS software in the County Library, Tallaght. Touch Type Read Spell is software designed for people with Dyslexia and reading difficulties which helps them develop fluidity in their reading. It is available on 23 PCs in the County Library and can be used by adults and children
• Telling Tales a CD of stories told by members of the Grannies Network in An Cosan and their grandchildren will be launched. This celebrates the oral tradition of storytelling and helps bonds develop between generations. Fluency in the spoken word greatly supports reading skills in young children
• Graffitti/Twitter Wall will be in Ballyroan library and people will be invited to put their greeting in thoughts, words and picture for literacy day in as many languages as they can speak
• The Libraries Family Learning Programme will be relaunched for autumn/winter 2009. This features family literacy programmes, eLearning and other literacy focused activities which will take place across all branches.

Georgina Byrne, County Librarian with South Dublin Libraries says Forget the dusty books contemporary libraries are warm, welcoming places. Our libraries offer family learning programmes where grandmothers improve their literacy while reading to their grandchildren, where people can download audio books for free to their iPods and where Computers for the Terrified classes bring even the most reluctant techie into the 21^st Century. The great thing about South Dublin Libraries is that we are a free service and almost a million people have visited our libraries since January this year. If you havent, then you are missing out.