Literacy as freedom

“Literacy is about more than reading and writing – it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture. Literacy... finds its place in our lives alongside other ways of communicating.

Indeed, literacy itself takes many forms: on paper, on the computer screen, on TV, on posters and signs. Those who use literacy take it for granted – but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today’s world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of “literacy as freedom”.

(UNESCO, Statement for the United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003–2012)

The amazing, inspirational book sculptor freetofly, @_freetofly_ on Twitter, took this slogan as literacy IS freedom and created 30 caged Book-birds left at the Edinburgh Book Festival for strangers to take and set free as per instructions.

Read the story so far at the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature page.

I've been entrusted with one of these birds to set free a "long way from here in a bookish place".

As a librarian and a cataloguer at that, I've often felt our skills and the work we do are undervalued and denigrated but this whole experience has made me think no that isn't right, Libraries DO Matter..

I will blip the start of the Book-bird's journey to a bookish place a long way away later, today's blip is of this little man who bumped into me at the Book Festival, so happy and enthused - another experience that made me smile.



..."in support of libraries, books, words & ideas" freetofly