November is Family Literacy Awareness Month at the Zoo
Posted On: Oct 29th, 2021
November is Family Literacy Awareness Month, and The South Baldwin Literacy Council is going to the Zoo!
National Family Literacy Month is an opportunity for families to learn and read together. It also celebrates the work literacy programs do to empower families.
Each Saturday in November and Tuesday, November 23 at 9:30 am, the SBLC will be partnering with the AGCZ for reading time at the Zoo.
Each reading time will begin with a book about an animal in the Zoo and will be followed by a zookeeper chat about an animal featured in the book. An adult must accompany each child at all times. Reading time, including zookeeper chat, will be about forty-five minutes to one hour.
The Saturday, Nov 6, 20, and 27 reading times will occur in a designated area in the Zoo and be included with paid general zoo admission. Saturday, November 13, and Tuesday, November 23 will occur outside of the Zoo in our Classroom located in our Gift Shop and will be free to all participants. Access to the Zoo will require paid zoo admission or zoo membership.
Book List and Schedule
10 Way to Celebrate Family Literacy Awareness Month
1. Visit the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo Saturdays in Novenmber during Reading Times sponsored by the SBLC. 2. Visit your local library with your family. In addition to books, find out about all the programming your library has to offer. You'd be surprise that many offer classes, workshops, movie nights, reading groups, and more for all ages on a vast variety of topics. 3. Join and participate in a book club or start a book club. Make it fun and get creative with your book club meeting by having activities or serve food related to the books your group is reading. 4. Try reading in a different format. If you are use to printed books, try reading via audiobooks or digital books. Many public libraries and universities have books that patrons can borrow digitally. You can download audiobooks and digital books to any smart device such as a phone, tablet, or laptop for free. 5. Attend a book festival together. Book festivals are held nationally and locally. It's a wonderful opportunity to meet authors, explore a huge variety of genres, meet people, and share the joy of reading. If there is not a festival happening in your area, talk to your local chamber of commerce to see how you can develop one in your community. 6. Create a book exchange in your neighborhood. Simply set up a small container (some folks have used large birdhouses or mailboxes) to house the books and protect them from the elements and a sign that reads, "Take a book, leave a book," for your neighbors to share books. 7. Donate books. Everyone has a least a few books that they have read and that are now lying on a shelf someplace in their home waiting for eager eyes to read them again. Consider donating your gently used books to a local charity. Save the environment by also recycling damaged books rather than tossing them in the garbage. 8. Share the love and joy of reading. Volunteer to read to patients in the hospital, to children in preschool, or to the elderly in a nursing facility. It costs nothing to be kind and to share your time with those who could use your smile and an open book. 9. Write a note. Writing is a major part of literacy. Consider writing notes of appreciation, thanks, or love to the special people in your life. The recipient of such note will appreciate the time and effort you took to hand-write it along with the sentiments you expressed. 10. Discuss what you've read. Whenever we experience something good, we talk about it. Talk about the books that excite you to people around you at work, at home, on the train, or anywhere. Share what was interesting, provocative, or amusing. Your excitement will be contagious and cause your listener to want to read as well.
