John Barker
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Sep 25/02) - The Inuvik Literacy Committee is gearing up for its second annual celebration of NWT Literacy Week, from Sept. 29 to Oct.5.

Highlights of the week, said chair Debra English, will include a family literacy evening Oct. 2 at Centennial Library at 7 p.m. Also, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is hosting a luncheon for authors from the Beaufort Delta region at noon Oct. 3 at the IRC building.

English said she also expects the second annual 15-minute community reading challenge to be popular again this year. The challenge takes place Oct. 1 and residents are urged to read for at least 15 minutes and then report their reading to Bev Garven, head librarian at Centennial Library.

According to the NWT Literacy Council, there is no clear picture of literacy rates in the NWT. National literacy surveys have never included the Northwest Territories, Nunavut or the Yukon.

The roots of the NWT Literacy Council date back to 1989 when a group of Northerners successfully sought federal funding to organize a conference on literacy, motivated in part by the United Nations, which in December 1987 had declared 1990 the International Literacy Year.

English said the Inuvik literacy situation is generally comparable to other Mackenzie Delta communities and one common element is that a lot of older aboriginal elders cannot read English.

She said her overall goals for literacy week remain modest. "Get a person to participate and that's success," said English.

Other major local sponsors of literacy week activities in Inuvik, besides the IRC, include the Gwich'in Tribal Council, the North West Company, Aurora College and Boreal Books.