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Abstract
The term Aliteracy was first coined in 1984 by Daniel Boorstin, Librarian of Congress, in a publication tracking the decline of reading skills in the United States. Larry Mikulecky is attributed with first distinguishing aliteracy from illiteracy in 1978.
The deadly fingers of the pandemic forced the schools to shut. It shifted gears from the physical domain to the virtual space. Schools began delivering education through online platforms to continue learning of students. In this situation, the literacy and reading instruction of children took a hit. The digital divide among children makes it even more complex.
One of the key responsibilities of a school librarian is to create a bridge between students and information. At the same time, they encourage literacy through reading instruction and aid, thereby developing lifelong learners. Several factors are at work today against the promotion of reading habits making it an uphill task for schools and librarians.
Literacy, reading, critical thinking, and lifelong learning
Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change, windows on the world, and 'lighthouses erected in the sea of time.' They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print (Tuchman, 1980).
UNESCO (2021), defines literacy as
the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning enabling individuals to achieve their goals, develop their knowledge and potential, and participate fully in their community and wider society.
We often identify children as literate if they can read and write well. It's a limiting approach where letteracy (Postman & Weingartner, 1973) is misunderstood as literacy. He makes the analogy that "Literacy is to reading as mathematics is to counting".
It has been commonly found that middle school and high school students become content with the basic skills of literacy that allow them to function and pass exams. Advanced reading or reading beyond school texts has been shown to develop the critical thinking and cognitive abilities of children. Since reading polishes critical thinking skills it also affects the overall personality of the child...