The Power of Reading: A Celebration of the Written Word
A collaborative event sponsored by
Literacy Kansas City, The Writers Place, and the Kansas City Public Library
Thursday, September 13, 2012, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Truman Forum Auditorium, Kansas City Plaza Public Library
4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Open to the public and free of charge
Please RSVP to the library by calling (816) 701-3407
About the Event
The Fourth Annual Power of Reading event will feature adult learners from Literacy Kansas City sharing their personal stories and how learning to read has transformed their lives. Local writers Miguel Morales, Kay Saunders, Lisa Harkrader, and Yael T. Abouhalkah will also read personal stories and original writings, and discuss the power of books and reading in their lives. Nick Haines of KCPT will emcee the event.
What Literacy Means to Kansas City
Literacy is the ability to read, write, compute and use technology at a level that enables an individual to reach his or her full potential as a parent, employee and community member. It is estimated that over 225,000 adults in the Kansas City area are functionally illiterate. Adult low literacy can be connected to almost every socio-economic issue in the United States.
- More than 60% of all state and federal corrections inmates are functionally illiterate.
- Low health literacy costs between $106 and $238 billion each year in the United States – between 7 and 17% of all annual personal health care spending.
- Low literacy’s effects cost the United States $225 billion or more each year in non-productive workforce, crime and loss of revenue due to unemployment.
Located in the heart of Kansas City, The Writers Place is a literary community center, library and gathering place for writers and readers. Since 1992, TWP’s role has been to provide support, resources, guidance and inspiration for those in our region who care about the word as art. The Writer’s Place’s mission is to contribute to the quality of cultural life in Kansas City and throughout the region by promoting literature to diverse communities and supporting writers and readers. In addition to featuring writing workshops and readings by local, regional, and visiting writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, TWP community outreach programs seek to excite future audiences, expose under-served audiences and at-risk communities to the art form, and to give the tools of self-expression to those in need.
