Indigenous Literacy Day

For Lynda and Jayde, Indigenous Literacy Day is a big deal. Lynda (on the left) is our Family Skills Facilitator, and Jayde our Youth Case Worker in our Nhulunbuy office. Last week they gave away over 150 books from the Indigenous Literacy Foundation to celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day.  

The book sharing was possible because of a relationship between Anglicare NT and the Indigenous Literacy Foundation which has been especially active in the last 12 months. “The Indigenous Literacy Foundation have been fantastic. They’ve supported every effort to make books accessible to everyone” said Lynda.  

“We all know representation matters – for children to see pictures of children who look like them, and to read stories that are relevant and reflect their own lives is really important. The simple act of sharing a story with someone else encourages language, brain development, positive associations with books and can encourage a lifetime of learning and curiosity” she said. 

Last Wednesday Lynda teamed up with Meg Venter, EACS Project Officer, Zavier Dentith and Jayde Lawe, both youth and family workers, and staff from the Nhulunbuy library to share books with the public. They created a comfortable space with snacks and drinks in Endeavour Square in Nhulunbuy. It was important to the Anglicare NT staff that families felt comfortable.  

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation has worked with Anglicare NT on a number of different projects throughout the NT, for which we are grateful.

“It’s all about accessibility”, said Lynda. “Being able to give away books and share a space where we can read together helps gets books into every home, so every family has access to stories to read together.” 

We would like to thank Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Nhulunbuy Library and all the wonderful families who came and shared the joy of reading with us.  

Photos by Zavier Dentith