Stories from the ILF

Please donate generously to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation this end of financial year and together let's STAND UP for literacy and First Languages. Donations are % tax deductible.

Ordering books from ILF is the favourite time of the working year for Kelly Smith, a Speech Pathologist at Marathon Health in Dubbo, NSW.

Tina Thorburn is the founder of Clay by Tina, a one woman pottery working in the Alpine region of North East Victoria. Tina is also the co-founder of the Melbourne Ceramics Market, along with Daisy Cooper. Paying it forward has always been an important part of her business model.Â

This year's National Reconciliation Week (NWR) theme is "Be Brave. Make Change."Â The theme calls on all Australians to be brave and challenge ourselves and others to tackle issues that prevent reconciliation, to make change in our communities. To fully embrace National Reconciliation Week and its significance, it is important to learn about and acknowledge the history and importance of the days represented in the week.

Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) Lifetime Ambassador Alison Lester has been a valued mentor to many remote Communities, supporting them to create books for publishing. From 2018, along with children's author and publisher Jane Godwin, Alison worked with debut author Marshia Cook and her children, Tamua Nuggett and Cazarus Baker, and debut author Emma Bear on the writing and illustrating of Jarrampa and Purlka ngamagi Kakaji (Big Fat Mummy Goanna).

As the ILF continues to grow and our supporter base expands, we aim to work with organisations that not only care for people but the planet as well. One of our most recent supporters is Enviroplus, a sustainable and natural commercial cleaning product provider investing in plant and enzyme technologies to create solutions that are not harmful to the environment.Â

The ILF are pleased to announce that ILF recently published titles, Jarrampa and Big Fat Mummy Goanna have become commercially available! Both books were launched in Community last year to much fanfare and celebration.Â

In the days of fast fashion and instant gratification, the slow book movement is picking up speed at Ivanhoe Grammar School. At this school, students are biting to have a blind date with an old book.

"If we didn't have ILF, I don't know where we'd get books from," says Niki Emmett, Child Health Nurse on Bathurst Island, NT. Niki is based at the Julanimawu Primary Health Care Centre in Wuurumiyanga. About 1500 people live in this remote Community on Bathurst Island, the biggest in the Tiwi group.

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is proud to have published three Graphic Novels in 2021, by four young and talented Indigenous authors and illustrators. Laura, Alyssa, Declan and Seraphina reflect and talk about their stories and what these books mean to them.Â

ALS Library Services helps Australian public and school libraries curate interesting and diverse book collections as a full-service library supplier operating out of Adelaide and Melbourne. ALS has been supporting the ILF by handling and shipping our commercially available books and Book Buzz materials for over 7 years.

Early literacy is a long held passion for ILF's Early Literacy Coordinator, Jolene Brown. A proud Kamilaroi and Dunghutti woman living on Darug land in Sydney's Western suburbs, Jolene was excited to join the ILF program team in June 2021. "I love my job," says Jolene. "I love that I can help support so many remote Communities to support families and children to develop those really important early literacy skills that will help make the transition to big school all the better."Â

Kids from Katherine township proper "” as well as from the outlying Communities of Kalano, Binjari, Rockhole, Werenbun and Gorge Camp "” attend the school, which has been actively promoting strong literacy skills among all its students.

Serlina and Vailan undertook the world's longest bike trail to fundraise for Indigenous literacy! Here, they reflect on their adventure and what they learned.

Based on Worimi Country, Freshwater Farm produces body and haircare products made from Australian native essential oils from their farm on the mid-north coast of NSW. Their team collaborated with artist Brittney Paulson to create their incredible Limited Edition Lemon Myrtle + Manuka Honey range, now available in your local Woolworths! For every product purchased in-store 20c goes to the ILF. For every online sale, $1 from Body Bars and $2 from hand wash is donated to the ILF.

The ILF is excited to annouce that our biggest fundraising event, the 2022 Great Book Swap officially launched at The International Grammar School on 15 March. Joined by more than 60 excited year five students and teachers, the launch took place in the school's state of the art library and started with an Acknowledgement of Country by two students, one in Wiradjuri language and the other in English.

Our team has been working hard to ensure we are able to send out free books again this year. There are almost 100,000 books available, suitable for all ages so that everyone can get involved in reading in 2022. If you've participated in the program before, welcome back! You may want to click below and head straight to the order form. If you are new to the program, read on to find out more before ordering.

Luana Towney lives on truwana, or Cape Barren Island, a small Aboriginal Community off the north coast of Tasmania. Her new children's book 'Muwinina Country' is a family-friendly, bilingual book about the first contact of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and settlers in nipaluna or Hobart. We sat down with her to talk about what language and this book means to her.