Strong literacy skills- the ability to read, write, speak, compute, and solve problems- are essential for individuals and families to succeed in our community. Healthy communities and families have literacy at their core and are able to overcome civic, social, and economic challenges. To provide this for the Greater Baton Rouge area, we must address that up to 20% of the Baton Rouge population functions at the lowest level of literacy.

While low literacy levels are associated with unemployment, poverty, family instability, crime, and poor economic development, improved literacy can empower individuals to:

   Gain access to information and resources
   Have a voice to express ideas and opinions with confidence
   Take action to solve problems and make decisions
   Learn in order to keep up with the world as it changes

With this in mind, the Greater Baton Rouge Literacy Coalition is dedicated to supporting and expanding literacy services so that people can work, our economy can grow, families can thrive, and our community can prosper.
 

Join Us for Literacy Week 2009!

Mark your calendar! Our second annual Literacy Week celebration is December 1st-7th. This year, the celebration will include a series of activities and events designed to demonstrate "The Reality of Literacy", and our goal is to raise awareness by exploring and expanding the public perception of literacy.

Inspired by our theme, "The Reality of Literacy", we plan to produce a public service announcement with a twist! East Baton Rouge Parish public high school students have been invited to participate in a competition to write a public service announcement (PSA) that will be produced and aired by WBRZ Channel 2. As our main Literacy Week event, the winning PSA will be released at our Reality of Literacy Breakfast!

In the Baton Rouge area, up to 20% of the adult population functions at the lowest level of literacy, struggling to do simple things like read a prescription bottle, complete a job application, or help a child with homework. Working together, we can create a new reality of 100% literacy!
 

Literacy Week Sponsors:

Level Sponsors:               Supporting Sponsors:

Watch our Two 2009 Winning "Reality of Literacy" PSA's:   Literacy Matters @WBRZ.com Review the New 2009 "Behind My Eyes" Anthology:

Literacy Week 2008 was a great success!

As part of our first Literacy Week celebration, we released our first student anthology and a video, titled "Leading the Way to Literacy". Local adult learners are already working on our second anthology, to be released during Literacy Week 2009!