Response to Toronto Star editorial on February 5, 2013 entitled Focus on literacy to get workers back on the job.
I wholeheartedly agree with the points made about the importance of literacy and lifelong learning in Roger Martin and Sherry Campbell’s editorial Focus on literacy to get workers back on the job.
At Toronto Public Library, we believe that reading is the foundation of school and life success. Our focus on literacy starts early as children learn many of the skills they need for reading long before they begin school. Ready for Reading programs at Toronto Public Library branches help parents and caregivers build early literacy skills in children five and under. We will be making Let’s Get Ready for Reading – a fun and easy guide to help kids become readers, developed by our librarians - widely available across Ontario this spring, thanks to funding support from our Foundation. Our focus on literacy continues through the middle years, teen years and adulthood with resources, services and programs designed to foster literacy and a love of reading as a first priority.
A love of reading opens doors to lifelong learning and, as the editorial stated, an openness to learning is critical for the increasing number of workers who find themselves needing to retrain and adapt to new skills requirements. At the Library, we stay connected to Torontonians over the course of their lives and are uniquely positioned to provide easy, free access to knowledge in a range of formats such as books, eBooks, programs, workshops and librarians who are available to help navigate the sometimes overwhelming amount of information at our disposal. We have specialized resources available for career and job search and business resources for everyone including the growing number of entrepreneurs in our city, and many of these are available 24/7 via our website.
This letter is an open invitation to those workers mentioned in the editorial – as well as all Torontonians – to visit their library branch and www.torontopubliclibrary.ca to take advantage of the free resources, services, programs, learning spaces and staff expertise available to help us succeed as we transition through life’s many stages. We look forward to welcoming you.
Jane Pyper
City Librarian
Toronto Public Library