Family Literacy Day takes place every January 27th to raise awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Since 1999, thousands of schools, libraries, literacy organizations and other community groups have taken part in the initiative. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to their development. It will help to improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well.
Family Literacy Day 2024 Theme: Let's Have A Family Party!
Celebrate 25 years of Family Literacy Day and learning together as a family by having a party! Make food, sing songs, and play games. The possibilities for learning are endless – and it’s fun when you do it together.
Check out our Family Literacy Day 2024 book list here:
Barrie Public Library will also be hosting some exciting events on Family Literacy Day! Join us at the Georgian Mall from 10:00 am-11:00 am for storytime by the fireplace! Get a library card while you wait, discover all your library offers from snowshoes and park passes to digital stories to read together and craft kits to enjoy indoors while the cold wind blows.
You can also join us at the Painswick branch to 'Cuddle Up and Read' from 10:00-12:00. Pick out a book, bring a stuffed animal, and get cozy while you read together! We'll have comfy spaces for your family to cuddle up and read together, and of course wonderful books to choose from! Enjoy fun literacy activities and more.
Visit our Events Calendar to find all the details.
Family Literacy Day fun facts:
- Children spend five times as much time outside the classroom as they do in school, so parents and caregivers need the tools to support their learning (The Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease, 2006).
- Children whose parents are involved with them in family literacy activities score 10 points higher on standardized reading tests (The Effect of Family Literacy Interventions On Children’s Acquisition of Reading: From Kindergarten to Grade 3, Conducted by Monique Sénéchal for the National Center for Family Literacy, 2006)
- One year of parental education has a bigger positive impact on whether a son or daughter will attend a postsecondary institution than an extra $50,000 in parental income (Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2011)
- A mother’s reading skill is the greatest factor to affect her children’s future academic success, outweighing other factors, like neighborhood and family income (National Institute of Health, 2010).