Literacy and books.

[John Sloan <jsloan@NEXUS.EDU.AU>]

Dear all,
in response to the comments re: replacing books with laptops et.al. =
there was an interesting article in the British Sunday Times on 14 =
February 1999 titled, "Pupils suffer as Britain spends least on books." =
The article ranked European countries only on the amount per pupil that =
was spent on books. Norway ranked first with 80 English pounds spent per =
pupil per year while the UK was last with 18 pounds. In the article =
there were a couple of interesting research findings: there is a =
powerful correlation between a country's literacy rates and the amount =
spent on books in schools. Britain has one worst adult literacy rates in =
Europe, Norway has the highest. Though this research was carried out by =
the Educational Publishers' Council which is part of the Publishers' =
Association it does provide some food for thought and/or comment in the =
light of what is happening around the world with the provisions of =
resources to libraries.=20
I know what and how I would be rather be reading to a child at bedtime!
Also for those interested there is an thought provoking article by Jamie =
McKenzie at=20
http://fromnowon.org
on access to libraries.

John C. Sloan
Professional Information Consultant
2nd Floor State Office,
31 Flinders Street,
ADELAIDE SA 5000
8226 3207 FAX: 8410 2534

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