Families with children of all ages in tow will again gather at Peterborough Square for an annual celebration of reading and the benefits of doing so.
With the theme “Learn to be Green, Together”, Peterborough Family Literacy Day will be marked Saturday (January 25) at the downtown mall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free to the drop-in style event.
Organized for more than 25 years by a committee comprised of educators, literacy advocates, and family activity providers, the event will feature storytelling and live music as well as interactive literacy displays and activities. And as has been the case since day one, every child will enjoy healthy snacks before leaving for home with a free book in hand.
The main stage at the foot of the mall escalators will be the focal point, starting with Readers’ Theatre, a shared reading by local dignitaries of The Giving Tree: A Retelling of a Tradition Métis Story.
Coming together for that is Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri, Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal, Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark, Curve Lake First Nation Chief Keith Knott, Hiawatha First Nation Chief Laurie Carr, Peterborough Police Service Chief Stuart Betts, and Peterborough Fire Services Chief Chris Snetsinger.
That will be followed at 10:30 a.m. by local fiddle sensation Irish Millie, at 11:30 a.m. by an Indigenous story reading by Jonathan Taylor, and at noon by a Zumba dance session hosted by the City of Peterborough’s Recreation Division. Closing out the program is the return of Drag Queen Story Time creator and storyteller Betty Baker, joined by her pal Butch.
Peterborough Family Literacy Day is held in conjunction with National Family Literacy Day marked annually on January 27. Since 1999, schools, libraries, and literacy organizations across the country have held events to raise awareness of the lifelong benefits derived by those who are encouraged to read at a young age and do just that.
According to ABC Life Literacy Canada, children whose parents are involved with them in reading and literacy-related activities score 10 points on standardized reading tests. Further, the organization cites studies that show a mother’s reading frequency and skill is the biggest factor in the determination of her children’s future academic success, outweighing other factors such as family income and social status.
Further cited on its website at abclifeliteracy.ca is the sobering fact that 48 per cent of adult Canadians have literacy skills below high school level, which negatively affects their ability to function at work and in their personal lives.
Add in the fact that 17 per cent of that number function at the lowest literacy level — unable to read dosage instructions on a medicine bottle or follow a simple recipe — and the need to encourage reading at a young age becomes even more apparent.
Among the members of the event’s organizing committee is Carrie Wakeford, the executive director of Learning Ontario Central South (LOCS).
A committee member since 2020, Wakeford is joined by representatives of the Peterborough Public Library, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, Peterborough Child and Family Centres, and Trent Students for Literacy.
In her role leading an organization that supports and promotes the work of adult training programs in Peterborough, Haliburton, Northumberland, Hastings, and Kawartha Lakes, Wakeford is quite familiar with data around adult literacy challenges.
“We do see people coming for support because they want to help their kids,” she says. “We’re not talking about just learning to read — some of the things kids are doing are pretty advanced.”
“That 48 per cent doesn’t mean that people don’t have their Grade 12,” Wakeford points out, referring to the number of Canadian adults with literacy skills below high school level. “They’ve been out of high school for a while doing one type of job and get really good at that, but all those other skills get a bit rusty.”
Peterborough Family Literacy Day, says Wakeford, checks some important boxes in a short time frame.
“Reading build empathy,” she assesses, adding “It allows you into a world that isn’t yours. For kids, that’s so critical.”
“For example, we have a number of Indigenous books and we have an Indigenous storyteller,” says Wakeford of Saturday’s event. “That might be, for some of the kids, their first introduction to Indigenous communities they wouldn’t have known about otherwise.”
Wakeford notes last year’s program included a reading of Building A Home, presented by the New Canadians’ Centre. She says that reading similarly fostered an understanding by kids of what it’s like to come here from another country.
Wakeford adds that one of things that reading books does is “increase attention span.”
“A book is tangible. You’re holding something. And it’s generally not for just 30 seconds. Families can do it together and then talk about it, whereas if your kid is on their phone, there isn’t that shared experience.”
An event highlight for Wakeford is that each child can take home a free book of their own choosing.
“They’re excited — they like making the choice,” she says. “I see so many parents, standing at the table with their child, saying ‘Well, what about this? Have you seen this one? You get to pick one.'”
“You will see kids at the event sitting down and reading their book. They’re not waiting until they get home. For me, that’s what is really special about the event: that we’re creating that excitement around stories and books.”
For his part, longtime event honorary chair and emcee Paul Rellinger well remembers the excitement he experienced as a child when he got his first library card.
“I had a wallet and it was the only thing in it,” he says, noting he’d walk the few miles to the library nearest to his east end Toronto family home three or four times a month.
“I was amazed. I gave them my card and they let me home take any books I wanted to. The walk there was easy, but I was weighed down on the way home. When I did get home, mom would ask for a rundown on what books I checked out and I was so excited to share that with her.”
A former longtime newspaper editor and currently a writer with kawarthaNOW, Rellinger maintains that early introduction to books, and his parents’ encouragement of his reading, later set him on his career path.
He still reads regularly, his bookshelf home to a well-worn copy of Treasure Island — the first book of any substantial length that he read.
“I love being involved with Family Literacy Day, for the simple reason that I see the same excitement over books that I experienced all those years ago,” says Rellinger.
“The day also reminds me that in a world where visual stimuli abound, where we’re all about our phones and iPads and tablets, there is still a place for books and their enduring ability of developing and fuelling the imaginations of kids like no other media,” adds Rellinger.
Peterborough Family Literacy Day sponsors, providing in-kind or financial support, are the Kinsmen Club of Peterborough, the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, Learning Ontario Central South, the Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the Peterborough Native Learning Program, Compass Early Learning and Care, Teachers for Kids, GoodMinds.com, the Peterborough Field Naturalists, Friends of the Library, the New Canadians’ Centres, BGC Kawarthas, Peterborough Square, the City of Peterborough and the Peterborough Police Service.
For more information about Peterborough Family Literacy Day and updates, visit the event’s Facebook page at facebook.com/familyliteracyptbo.
