Global Literacy Project, Inc.

Magara (2005) describes a reading culture as one where reading is highly valued and appreciated in the society and where reading is regarded not simply as something developed for school purposes but something practiced in all aspects of our lives. What then can be done to nurture this “culture for reading” and what can we do to contribute to the development of positive reading habits?

Sanders-ten Holte (1998) and Cruz (2003) suggest that to create a culture for reading within a given society, it is necessary to improve the reading environment in the home, the school and the community at the same time, while improving the image of reading so it is more than simply school-focused.

The aim of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. is unique in that we seek to create a truly self-sustaining culture of reading by creating High Literacy Clusters (HLCs) wherever we are working.  Our numerous activities–from shipping books to the service learning opportunities we provide for individuals in the USA and abroad–are all part of our mission to establish HLCs, which can then serve as springboards to engagement with reading and thereby offering the promise of attaining greater developmental goals in lagging regions/countries.

HLC Model | Characteristeics of a HLC | Stakeholders: Roles and Responsibilities

Characteristics of a High Literacy Cluster (HLC)

The HLC is a locality in which high literacy exists. Within the HLC, children and adults have immediate access to books and to programs that promote a culture of literacy.  The HLC is the result of a targeted effort by GLP to sustain literacy-supporting ratios of  people to media, which we have found to be optimal at 1 to 10.

A public library and/or community learning center working with about 9 to 20 schools are at the heart of the HLC. Each school in the HLC is provided with its own well-stocked library and multi-media equipment.  In the HLC community members have easy and immediate access to books in homes, schools, and libraries.

HLCs have different characteristics depending on the country they are operating in.  For example, South Africa and Kenya, have swathes of the society with relatively high literacy rates, and as such, they have different needs than other countries that have lower literacy rates across the board.  In countries which may have relatively high literacy communities, HLCs address the fact that most people still do not have access to a wide range of media for enhancing and sustaining their literacy, whereas in low literacy countries, HLCs may be customized to deliver literacy at the levels and forms in which it is needed.

One of the tasks of the HLC is to select communities that are interested in transforming student performance and leadership ability through innovation means.  Highly motivated students and community members can help GLP establish and operate HLCs by getting involved in various aspects of the HLCs:

• Establish Community Learning Center(s) to reach out to parents, children, and broader community
  • Projects supporting vocational literacy
  • Partnering with local organizations to create entrepreneurial opportunities such as self-help sewing groups that create school unifoms.
• Establish a Mentoring and Learning Program to inspire students to achieve their scholastic goals, reduce attrition rates, increase high school graduation rates, and the percentage of students going on to tertiary institutions.
• Create libraries within each participating school
• Create a Literacy Center in each school library with interactive, multimedia resources, usually featuring phonics instructional systems.
• Initiate a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (S.T.E.M) program and run science camps or fairs.
• Offer leadership development programs and service learning opportunities, which give providers and beneficiaries alike an opportunity to explore the meaning of altruism and the human bonds created when people take care of each other.
• Assess and improve education outcomes by providing teachers with professional development workshops and other forms of support, instituting after-school programs,
• Generate excitement around reading, writing and learning by designing creative extracurricular activities and encouraging participation
• Continually inform community members in the HLC of ways to access locally available resources.
• Enable HLCs residents to acquire the foundational skills in math, reading, and attitudes that help them to succeed in a democracy.

In sum, an HLC consists of schools, homes, libraries, and community centers full of books, computers and other literacy materials, where a general awareness is fostered, among all age groups, of the power of literacy as a tool for life-long learning, personal upliftment, and self-reliance.

High school graduates from an HLC should be equipped with the foundational skills in math, reading, and attitudes that enable them to succeed in a democracy.