Every year, the International community marks the World Book and Copyright Day on April 23. This special observance is an occasion to pay a worldwide tribute to books and authors and to encourage people to discover the pleasure of reading.

It seems the local authorities continue to see libraries as detached from the educational system

Activities to promote reading and the cultural aspects of books are held all over the world and I am also happy to note that this is now the case also for Malta. Various activities are in fact being organised at the Central Public Library in Floriana and other libraries across Malta and Gozo to mark the World Book and Copyright Day 2013.

My contribution to mark the World Book and Copyright Day this year focuses on the importance of reading.

There is no doubt that the increased availability of e-books (digital books) is changing the traditional landscape and these offer new opportunities for access to knowledge and entertainment. However, as Unesco director general Irina Bokova pointed out in this year’s message, “traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information”.

Back in the 1970s, Mortimer Adler was working on a new edition of How To Read A Book when he lamented the fact that “reading was becoming an unfamiliar and indeed unnatural practice”. His main worry was that there were too many distractions with the advent of television.

Adler passed away in 2001, in a world that had already experienced the advent of the internet and, as a consequence, a complete revolution in the way people access, evaluate and consume information.

The distractions today, dare I say, have multiplied exponentially. And, yet, people across the world continue to read, books are still being bought, the printed book is still around and the traditional publishing industry and libraries are evolving and adapting themselves to the changes brought about by the developments in the last two decades.

Some may, however, rightly argue that it is not all as rosy as it seems. In the local scene, the recent news about the literacy levels of our young generation are not at all encouraging. The main headline that emerged from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2011) – a comparative study of the reading attainment of 10-year-olds – indicated that Malta’s mean reading score (477) was significantly lower than the international average. In fact, this result had us ranked 35th out of 45 participating countries.

I am convinced that had my call for a national adult literacy survey a few years ago been heeded, we would by now have had more worrying figures to chew upon regarding the literacy levels of the adult population.

In my opinion, we have failed to tackle the literacy problem holistically and have been systematically addressing this issue exclusively as one related to formal education. Education is, of course, an essential ingredient in ensuring a literate society but is it the only one?

Why is it that school and public libraries continue to be left out of the equation when there is ample research available to show that the role of these libraries is significant in ensuring an informed and literate society?

The National Curriculum for All, published last year, places literacy and digital literacy as cross curricular themes but fails to mention what role the school library has in the delivery of these so called ‘themes’.

Similarly, in the recent published document, An Early School Leaving Strategy For Malta, the issue of literacy crops up again.

And, again, the role of school and public libraries is not mentioned despite the fact that both can be important pillars in combating illiteracy and improving the literacy levels of both present and future generations. The report published in September 2010 by the National Literacy Trust (UK) on the link between school libraries and literacy confirmed that was a very strong relationship between reading attainment and school library use, with young people who read below the expected level for their age being almost twice more likely to say that they are not a school library user. Conversely, those who read at or above the expected level were nearly three times more likely to say that they are school library users.

Public libraries should offer an informal environment where anyone who is put off by authoritative and compulsory reading lists, obligatory reading times and formal literacy courses can relax and enjoy reading whatever s/he fancies.

In his book, The Pleasures Of Reading In The Age Of Distraction, Alan Jacobs refers to his “commitment to one dominant, overarching, nearly definitive principle for reading: read at whim”.

Public libraries should be places where people of all ages can read at whim.

We need to empower public libraries to be able to offer the right environment and the attractive collections that would entice people to visit their local library and spend some enjoyable and relaxing time reading anything they like.

This is the type of service that public libraries should be in a position to offer.

We need to make a collective effort to convince the national and local authorities that investing in school and public libraries is a contribution towards improving society.

The reading skills of young students can be improved in various ways and it should not necessarily feel like drudgery. Unfortunately, it seems that the local authorities continue to see libraries as detached from the educational system and the social life of citizens.

While there seems to be a consensus that libraries are ‘a good thing’, we repeatedly fail to include them as an integral part of the educational, social and cultural programmes.

I therefore take this opportunity to again encourage the Government and local councils to support libraries through investment in resources and ensuring that school libraries are in a position to be an integral part of the learning process through formal and less formal initiatives.

Public libraries, on the other hand, have a wider role and should reach out to everyone within their communities.

They should provide an opportunity and an option for those adults who can be classified as diffident readers, embarrassed non-readers or guilt-stricken former readers.

On May 10, the Malta Library and Information Association will be holding a national conference with the theme ‘Maltese Libraries – what future?’ with contributors from various types of libraries. Books, reading and activities to promote literacy among library users will undoubtedly be on the day’s agenda.

The challenge for all of us will be placing these issues on the national agenda for the coming years. Who knows, we may still be in time to have a state-of-the-art public library in the capital city by the time Valletta is the European Capital of Culture in 2018.

Robert Mizzi is interim chairman of the Malta Libraries Council and deputy chairman of the Malta Library and Information Association.

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