The Library plays a vital role in the lives of many Calgarians and promotes strong communities, literacy and lifelong learning. Whether you use the Library for recreation, enrichment, school, or business, the Calgary Public Library leads the way to literacy.

The Calgary Public Library has a comprehensive Literacy Collection containing books, audio cassettes and CD's. This collection is also used for 'English as a Second Language' (ESL) learning. The collection consists of skill development materials, some in workbook format, and some as cassette or CD book sets, divided into Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Items are distinguished by color-coded International Literacy Symbols on the spine.

Click on the link to show books that learners can borrow from the Library:

Fiction

Reading practice - stories

004

Life Skills Computers and Internet

323.6

Citizenship - Canada

418

Reading practice - nonfiction

421.1

Writing and Punctuation

423

Vocabulary

428

Spelling

428.1

Speaking and Listening Skills Pronunciation

428.2

Grammar

428.24076

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) / TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) / TSE (Test of Spoken English)

428.4 and 428.6

Reading Comprehension

510

Mathematics

650.1

Employment

658

Business and Commerce

808.066

Business Writing

917.123

Alberta - Guidebooks

971

Canadian History

These materials are located at all 17 Library locations, with the largest collection on the 5th Floor of the W. R. Castell Central Library, in the Diversity Services Department.

LITERACY FACTS  

Literacy in Canada

The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), conducted in 2003 with results released in 2005, was an international survey that measured how well adults use information to function in society and the economy. In Canada, 23,000 people were tested on their skills proficiency in four areas:

• prose literacy: understanding text, such as newspaper articles
• document literacy: understanding informational text, such as maps and charts
• numeracy: working with numbers
• problem solving: the ability to clarify the nature of a problem and develop and apply solution strategies

The IALSS survey sheds light on our current literacy challenges and also connects those challenges to some of Canada's most pressing social and economic issues: unemployment, poverty, health, integration of newcomers, child well being, and more. The link is clear in this conclusion: "…investments in foundation skills would lead to improved levels of health, increased productivity, reduced social costs and higher growth." For more information on the IALSS survey, visit www.statisticscanada.ca

National Literacy Facts

• 4 in 10 Canadians don’t have the literacy skills they need to meet the ever-increasing demands of our knowledge-based society.
  
• Today's new jobs require highly literate workers. Even though people are often better educated and environments are more literate than ever before, a large and increasing number of adults find their skills are deficient in everyday situations. Employers tend to improve skills of their most literate workers while ignoring people who struggle with reading and writing.
• Higher levels of literacy decrease unemployment rates. Workers with low literacy skills are particularly vulnerable to layoff and displacement, and once unemployed, they may find it more difficult to find new jobs.
• There has been a decline in literacy scores among Canadian youth. A parent's level of education has a significant impact on the literacy scores of their children. Canadian youth aged 16-25 who had parents with little or no education scored lower on average in 2003 than similar youth surveyed in 1994.
• In the international ranking, Canada ranks 4th of the countries compared in the IALSS study behind Norway, Switzerland, and Bermuda, but ahead of the United States and Italy.
• Most immigrants to Canada (regardless of skill level) are disadvantaged in terms of employment, even compared to low skilled Canadian-born adults.
• Literacy skills erode if not used regularly. Canadians who don't exercise their literacy skills at work, at home, or through continued education, will experience a deterioration of their skills over time.
• A high school education is no guarantee that a person has the literacy skills he/she needs to succeed.
• Lifelong learning is important in acquiring new competencies and qualifications. Literate adults and senior citizens are far better equipped to maintain their independence and quality of life, thus lessening the need for social services.
• Canada's literacy challenges are undermining our economic potential. Literacy is strongly connected to productivity and position in the global economy. In 2004, another study showed that a 1% increase in average literacy rates would yield a 1.5% permanent increase in the GDP (Coulombe, Tremblay and Marchand, 2004).

Literacy in Alberta

• Alberta, the Yukon, British Columbia and Saskatchewan had proficiency scores significantly above the national average across all four domains (prose, document, numeracy and problem-solving) in the IALSS study. This in no way suggests that literacy is not an issue in western Canada. Literacy is everyone’s concern and we all have a part to play. The IALSS study is a wake-up call for all Canadians and for decision-makers at all levels of government, regardless of political affiliation.
• According to a study done in 1996, most callers to literacy programs in Alberta were born in Canada and speak English as their first language (ABC Canada - LEARN Campaign National Research Study (1996).
• In Alberta, there are about 600 literacy programs offered by almost 200 organizations. These programs include family, youth, senior, Aboriginal, academic upgrading, English as a Second Language, and workplace literacy (Literacy Alberta, 2006).
• Thousands of Albertans train to become volunteer adult literacy tutors. Many people are unaware that a great deal of literacy work is dependent upon charitable efforts and volunteers.

Thank you to Literacy Alberta and the Movement for Canadian Literacy at http://www.literacy.ca for their help in compiling this information.