THE Guyana Association for Reading and Language Development (GARLAND) yesterday hosted a book fair in Main Street Avenue in downtown Georgetown to promote World Literacy Day 2012.

Host, President Grace Brown, said the theme for this year, ‘Literacy and Peace’ was chosen because, if one is not literate, one cannot effectively communicate in order to make peace.
At the venue, persons from GARLAND proposed literacy-related ideas for the public, mainly children, such as ‘Mother Goose’s storytelling time’; ‘Read a book get a book’, through which  a child, having read a book, could win it on conclusion, depending on his/her reading performance.
There were also literacy fun games, including bingo and face painting.
Ms. Brown said the event was staged to promote literacy and sell the organisation, which has been in existence since 1987, despite becoming dormant over time.
She said GARLAND was resuscitated last June, and has since been doing what it does best, promoting literacy across Guyana.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) proclaimed September 8 International Literacy Day on November 17, 1965, when it was first celebrated. World Literacy Day aims to highlight the importance of literature and literacy to individuals, communities and societies.
On each International Literacy Day, UNESCO makes it an obligation to update the world community on the status of literacy and adult learning globally.
UNESCO said on its website that many persons worldwide lack minimum literacy skills, and that surveys show that one in five adults is still not literate; while more women than men are illiterate.