We always try and have something on the Learning Centre table that requires reading. This piece we have included as a handout “How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun” is from a First Nations science text that features the mythical legend and the scientific explanation for a phenomena. It was very appealing and we have read other excerpts from this book.
Sometimes we read stuff together, a couple of people at a time. Other times, everyone reads it to themselves and we discuss it. The picture is great for pre-reading discussion. Clearly, it is the main reason that women read on!
We took a unique approach to reading a novel. We copied the novel and handed it out chapter by chapter. As we read the novel, we built the book. We decided to leave the growing novel in the Learning Centre to make sure that it would be there when we arrived to do the activity. Even though we wanted to take it home and read it again, leaving it in the Learning Centre was better than having to remember to carry it with us.
This anticipation worked to keep the small group interested over a number of weeks. Reading a chapter at a time also ensured lots of room for discussion. This approach worked well with women who were not reading books on their own.
Lots of women love to read and use reading as an escape. We work with the librarian at the Carnegie Library to get donated books every week that we can give away free in the Learning Centre at WISH. The librarian has also come to WISH and talked directly with women about their favourite fiction writers, issues that are important to them, etc. She then makes a special effort to sort books that she knows will be popular at WISH. We give away close to a thousand books and magazines a year.
Although some women bring back the books for continued circulation, it’s important that we have no strings attached to these materials. Living in shelters, hotels and on the street make it almost impossible for women to hang on to their belongings.
We are much more interested in women maintaining their literacy levels and enjoying reading, than getting these books back. However, some women have started using the local library because of their connection with the librarian.
It has been important to feature local writing from the Downtown Eastside. We have used the WISH and Carnegie Newsletters as well as UpWords a magazine published out of the Lifeskills Centre in the DTES, to get people talking about an issue. There are books of poetry and collected short pieces, both fiction and non-fiction written by accomplished and emerging writers in the Downtown Eastside. One woman in the Downtown Eastside started a book club with Maggie DeVries’ novel Missing Sarah, the story of her sister who was one of the missing women.
Keepers of the Earth: Native Stories and Environmental Activities for Children, Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac, Fifth House Ltd, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1999.