KOOP Radio is celebrating World Literacy Day on September 8, 2025, and all month long.
The initiative was conceived in 1965 at the “World Conference of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of illiteracy” in Tehran, Iran.
The first International Literacy Day was initiated in 1967 by The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO,” to remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights”.
The impact of illiteracy affects more than one’s dignity and human rights. The Children’s Defense Fund cites that 1.7 million Texas children live in poverty. Poverty can be both a cause and a result of low literacy.
According to the advocacy organization Proliteracy, 59 million adults in the U.S. and 800 million worldwide struggle with basic reading, writing, math, and computer skills. Low literacy costs the U.S. economy over $300 billion in lost earnings, lower workplace productivity, higher crime, and more government assistance.
The ability to read and write effectively also encompasses the ability to communicate, understand, and use language in various contexts such as financial, digital, and media literacy.
Just some of the challenges associated with improving the rate of literacy are the impacts of Artificial Intelligence, prolonged screen time, funding cuts to educational programs, banned books, availability of books, and lack of resources to assist the 6.5 million Texas residents – almost 40% – who speak a language other than English at home. This is close to double the national average.
In the Greater Austin community we are so fortunate to have initiatives, institutions and organizations whose focus is education. Some of the KOOP Radio Community Partners offering educational services that work to improve literacy rates are:
Bookspring – provides books to children and families.
Inside Books Project – provides books to incarcerated individuals in Texas.
Breakthrough Central Texas – advocates for students who aspire to be the first in their family to graduate with a degree or certificate.
Code2College – works to Increase the proportion of historically underestimated high school students who enter and excel in STEM undergraduate majors and careers.
Foundation Communities – provides on-site education programs for children, teens and adults.
GirlForward – provides educational support for girls in grades 9-12 who are refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers.
Humanities Texas – supports programs that improve the quality of classroom teaching, libraries, museums, and opportunities for lifelong learning.
Ladies Let’s Talk – assists refugee and immigrant women with English language practice.
Learning Bridge – supports youth in foster care and homeless youth with tutoring.
Math Happens – provides opportunities to learn math in public spaces.
Texas Hands & Voices – supports families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The Overton Group – benefits dual language enrichment for underserved children.
Settlement Home for Children – supports the University of Texas Charter School on-site for individuals who have experienced severe emotional trauma, abuse, and neglect.
KOOP Radio wishes you a peaceful day of reading – in a park, in a hammock, in a book store, in a coffee shop, in a library, in a reading nook, with tea or coffee, ambient music in the background, with a kid in your lap. SHH…SHH…SHH…SHH…………