On International Literacy Day (September 8th), the Global Book Alliance celebrates the addition of 17 new languages to the growing collection on the Global Digital Library (GDL). Thanks to contributions from USAID’s Pakistan Reading Project, USAID Senegal’s Lecture Pour Tous Project, and the All Children Reading: Book Boost: Access for All Challenge, the GDL now contains vetted, quality content in 62 languages!
The new languages are (by country):
Senegal: Wolof, Pulaar, Seereer
Pakistan: Balochi, Brahui, Pashto-Balochistan dialect, Pashto-KP Dialect, Sindhi, Urdu
Laos: Lao
Papua New Guinea: Tok Pisin, Enga, Siri Motu
Nepal: Tamang
Malawi: Lomwe, Tumbuka, Yao
Brooke Estes, who works on the Global Book Alliance Secretariat, emphasized the importance of the growing GDL library. “Reading materials are essential for a quality education. The provision of free access to high quality materials in languages that children use and understand is an investment with potential for enormous impact on children’s lives.”
Many of the materials contributed to the GDL have been used by education programs in schools to teach reading, and meet Ministry of Education standards of quality. For students whose education has been interrupted by the pandemic or other crises, readily available learning materials such as these can play an important role in preventing the deterioration of reading skills.
All materials on the GDL are openly licensed and free to access on phones, tablets or computers. The GBA recognizes that access to digital content is not available to all, so materials can also be printed directly from the GDL. In addition, high-quality, print-ready files, which contain all information needed to produce professional quality physical versions of the books, are available free of charge. See the GDL’s repository of print-ready files to learn more.