In this day and age most of us take for granted being literate. At an early age we learn to read, write, add, multiply, and so on, and as a result, once we are adults doing these seemingly simple tasks seems almost like a second nature to us. Yet did you know one in seven people here in the United States can’t read or write!
According to the U.S. Department of Education about 14 percent of adult Americans, which is the same as 32 million people, can’t read the instructions on their medication bottles. Yet these numbers are optimistic when compared to the level of illiteracy in under-developed countries; India and China contain 52 percent of all non-literates worldwide according to UNESCO while the African continent has a literacy rate of less than 60 percent. Worldwide, about one billion people or 26 percent of the total population are illiterate!
These statistics might seem somewhat pessimistic but there is always a ray of hope. Jim Henry (pictured above) was illiterate until two years ago, yet his first written novel “In a Fisherman’s Language: An Autobiography” has become a best seller in Jim’s hometown of Mystic, CT. His remarkable story has been featured on CNN, USA Today, and even in a U.K. newspaper, but why is his story so amazing when adults are learning how to read and write everywhere? Well, Jim Henry left school in 3rd grade to help out his family, and hid his illiteracy all his life. When he retired from being a lobster fisherman, he made up his mind to learn to read at the age of 96.
The question is who or what can inspire a 96 year old to read and write, and the answer is a 98 year old. George Dawson became literate at the age of 98 and published his first novel at the tender age of 101; his first novel “Life is so Good” was the inspiration for Jim Henry.
It is never too late to learn how to read and write and here at the library we are trying our best to provide this free service for people of all ages; the literacy services in the Monrovia Public Library strive to teach children and adults the pleasure of reading and writing. If you have someone in your life who has just found the inspiration for learning how to read and write, then bring them to the literacy office and we will be more than happy to match them with a trained tutor.
