Literacy Council low
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Nov 24/00) - The precise moment those mysterious black marks in books became words I could read has long since faded.
But I do remember that it was a short, enchanted road to sentences, and then stories.
From there, it was long, sneaky nights under the blankets with my flashlight and my most recently acquired book -- unless I wasn't quick enough to snap off the light and feign sleep when my mother's steps approached my bedroom door.
I'm still hooked on books and cannot imagine life without them.
It seems the NWT Literacy council feels the same.
"In some communities, there isn't even a library," notes Katherine Robinson of the NWT Literacy Council.
No library? Then chances are there won't be a bookstore just around the corner -- hence the council's annual book drive.
Last year, over 1,000 children's books were delivered to several small Dogrib communities: Rae Lakes, Wha Ti, Lutsel K'e, Snare Lakes and Rae-Edzo.
The idea was to get those books into homes.
"We're really focusing on the family literacy program," explains Robinson.
The council will be accepting books until Nov. 30. The Yellowknife Rotary Club has taken on the job of collecting the books from the drop-off points: the Co-op, Javaroma, the Yellowknife Book Cellar and the council office. First Air will then ship them to Holman, Paulatuk and Deline.
But there's a problem this year. The numbers are low. Only 200 books have been collected thus far, with Family Literacy Day, Jan. 27, close enough to cause the council some worry.
"It"s possible more will come in, but we're not at all where we were last year." Donated books can be for any age group, from board books for the new reader to chapter books for youth. Whatever people have got. There are other ways to contribute to the book drive. You can buy a book, you can offer a straight cash donation, or deposit money into the council's account at the Yellowknife Book Cellar.
"It goes directly into buying books," Robinson says.
