One of the main themes of my term as Lieutenant Governor is “equal access to literacy for all British Columbians.” Literacy is vital to education and prosperity and we must encourage and promote reading and writing at all ages. Working closely with the Government House Foundation, we created this four pillar program to encourage and promote literacy throughout British Columbia.
The Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
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Provide readily available reading material (of all types) to remote communities that do not have access to book stores, libraries and standard reading materials.
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Provide early reading material for pre-school and school aged children in all communities.
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Encourage literacy development for all ages through the writing of stories, paragraphs or essays to be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor for acknowledgement and response.
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Encourage reading and writing by visiting communities, meeting with community elders and Councils as well as all levels of schools.
There are three main ways organizations and individuals can participate in the Lieutenant Governor’s Literacy Program:
Donating Funds
Funds donated to the Government House Foundation for the Lieutenant Governor’s Literacy Program are used to:
- Produce a workbook to be given to students who participate in Write Me a Story. The notebook will feature all illustrations from the project;
- Buy new books to be delivered to remote communities;
- Buy early reading material for young children in all communities.
Donations should be made to the Government House Foundation.
Donating Books
Donations of new books are used in the following ways:
- New adult and children’s books are provided to remote communities who are interested in participating in the program. The Government House Foundation facilitates an initial meeting between communities and service clubs such as Rotary. The service club then works with the community to provide the books.
- Early reading materials are provided to young children when the Lieutenant Governor visits communities or schools;
- The Lieutenant Governor gives books to the library of each school he visits.
A list of appropriate and teacher/librarian approved books is accessible here.
Volunteering
- Get involved with a community literacy program;
- Work with schools to develop a Read for the Top program as Rotary clubs have done in Victoria;
- Offer to read to children at local schools who are having difficulty;
- Read to children at the local library.
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