Literacy at Sheep River Library

Literacy for Life is running a story writing competition for older children in conjunction with Family Literacy Day celebrations on January 27th, 2012. At least one adult and one child must be involved in writing the story. Children must be 12 years of age or younger at the time of submission. The story cannot be longer than 250 words and must include the theme of Passport to Learning. Submit your story in person to the library by January 6th, 2012, to be entered to win a lunch for your family with a local author.
If you have read The Reader (or seen the movie) you know that being illiterate has enormous consequences for the main character. Being literate also has consequences. Author Carol Gorman gives the following list of 10 reasons why we should read:

• Reading helps you become an interesting person. (Impress your friends, dates and future in-laws!)
• Reading helps you learn how to write correctly. (Get good grades, make your grandmother happy when she reads your well-written thank-you notes and impress your future boss who'll promote you because you express yourself so well.)
• Reading develops your imagination. (Write terrific stories for school, cook up funny ideas for friends and maybe even earn big bucks writing screen plays for Hollywood!)
• Reading entertains you. (No more long boring car rides, waits in the dentist's office or too-long summer vacations when you can't think of anything to do.)
• Reading teaches you about things unfamiliar to you. (Write A+ reports for school, impress your friends and earn big prizes on TV game shows!)
• Reading takes you to places you've never visited. (Read about actors on Broadway, bullfighters in Spain and astronauts in space.)
• Reading takes you to times you've never experienced. (Spend a week in Colonial times or experience the burial ceremony of an Egyptian king or learn what life was like when William Shakespeare was writing Romeo and Juliet.)
• Reading introduces you to people you've never met. (Find out how the Amish live or how a fireman in New York City spends his day or what an NFL football player's practice is like.)
• Reading introduces you to new ideas. (Learn about the beliefs of the world's religions, why some physicists believe that time is circular instead of linear and how scientists speculate that our thoughts can influence the outcome of experiments.)
• Reading is FUN! (Laugh out loud! Gasp in disbelief! Feel your heart beating in suspense!)