Adult and Community Education (ACE) Aotearoa encourages all Kiwis to celebrate International Literacy Day on September 8 with Random Acts of Reading.

Random Acts could involve anything from a play reading on a commuter train, sharing a favourite book on a bus or giving out free newspapers on the street to a group reading together in a park.

International Literacy Day, is a UNESCO initiative which reminds everyone of the importance of literacy and adult learning throughout the world.

It is estimated that 780 million adults world wide still lack minimum literacy skills and 70 million children do not have access to education.

ACE Aotearoa Director Jo Lake says literacy problems don’t  just affect Third World countries. The 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey showed that 1.1 million New Zealanders (43% of the adults aged 16 to 65) have literacy skills below those needed to participate fully in a knowledge - based society.

Groups and individuals can register their activity on the Random Acts of Reading facebook page and follow it up with a photo or film of themselves enjoying their reading activity on the day.