It s no good learning how to use a knife and fork if you haven t got any meat. It is our library service that provides the meat the very extensive range of books and information resources on which to focus and to improve literacy skills. We can now co-ordinate the resources of the libraries , the adult college , and the schools in a community effort to eliminate illiteracy within a decade. The service for children and students has been improving at that kind of pace over the past decade. There is no good reason why the same should not happen for adults over the next ten years.
Literacy is the foundation of everything personal, social, economic and political.
Policies and strategies on renewal and regeneration which do not have literacy at their heart are implausible at best and in cloud-cuckoo land at worst. The second example is the role of the arts. The borough has enjoyed major developments in the arts over the past two years, not least those associated with the A13 Artscape Project which must become better known across the community in the coming years. Involvement in arts activities offers a wide range of opportunities for personal and social development. They help people to grow in self-confidence, to express their individuality, to feel their creative contribution is valued, to engage with issues and ideas that are important to them, and to present themselves, their ideas and feelings effectively.