With travel back on the agenda and events in full swing, 2022 was a busy and rewarding year!
Major highlights include:- Multiple visits to remote Communities for workshops and four book launches
- Our first CREATE Initiative since 2018, held in Darwin
- A NAIDOC celebration at International Towers, Sydney
- Return to Sydney Opera House for a live Indigenous Literacy Day event
- Shortlisted again, for the Astrid Lindgren Award
- Eight Translation Rights Projects including The Very Hungry Caterpillar in six First Languages.
You are a valuable member of the ILF community, and we couldn't achieve this important work without your support. Thank you for being part of our journey and sharing our vision that reading opens doors to future opportunities and choices.
From all of us at ILF, we wish you a safe and joyful holiday season. See you in 2023!
Mandaang guwu,
Ben Bowen, Chief Executive Officer
UNESCO's Decade of Indigenous Languages
To celebrate UNESCO's first year of the Decade of Indigenous Languages, each month we encourage readers to learn a new word in either an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language.
This month's word is koala in Bundjalung language!
koala = burbi
Phonetics: bur-bee
Download the audio version here.
We extend a heartfelt thank you to ALS Library Services who have been an ILF sponsor since 2013, storing and distributing our commercially available books and products. Thank you, Simon and Angela!
We are indebted to our partner Australia Post for their support with the delivery of Book Supply packs to remote Communities and their ongoing fundraising. Currently they have a festive bauble with artwork from ILF ambassador Gregg Dreise in store and online, with $2 from each sale donated to ILF.
A big thank you to Penguin Random House (PRH) ANZ who have generously donated $100,000 to support out 2023 programs.
We would like to thank the Johnson Winter Slattery team, who have kindly supported our Foundation with their end-of-year initiative.
We would like to thank Guts Creative who are donating 10% of their profits to the ILF through their Guts Gives Back Program.
This month's word is koala in Bundjalung language!
koala = burbi
Phonetics: bur-bee
Download the audio version here.
2022 Achievements
- 116,866 culturally relevant books gifted through our Book Supply program
- 90 playgroups supported through our Book Buzz program
- 26 books published in 15 languages as part of our Community Publishing Projects program
Meet our Youth Ambassadors!
We would like to acknowledge and thank our current Youth Ambassadors! Learn more about Lachie, Penelope, Josh and Sidney here. If you or a young person you know is interested in becoming an ILF Youth Ambassador, please send an email to: marketing@ilf.org.au. We would love to meet you!Yabun Festival
For Sydneysiders and visitors, join us at the Yabun Festival on 26 January at Victoria Park, Camperdown. Make sure you visit the ILF stall and say hello. This is a wonderful day to recognise and celebrate the strengths and survival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' cultures with music and dance, and some of Indigenous Australia's best thinkers and speakers.Thank You 2022 GBS Fundraisers!
A big thank you to all the schools, individuals and organisations that participated in Great Book Swap (GBS) this year! We have exceeded our target and raised over $165,000 with over 550 registrations. This allows us to gift 16,500 culturally relevant books to remote Communities. An amazing outcome. We hope you will register for the 2023 GBS, launching in mid-March.Kinokuniya Bookstore Gift Wrapping
We would like to thank Kinokuniya Bookstore in Sydney for the opportunity to raise funds for the ILF by wrapping books and gifts for a donation. A big thank you to the 300+ volunteers who applied their wrapping skills, to all the donors and the team at Kinokuniya Bookstore for making this fundraiser possible.More Stories
Launch of Murli la
Earlier this month we launched our newest title, Murli la, in the Tiwi Islands with the Ngarukuruwala Women’s Group. In a moving and joyful event, the Ngarukuruwala Women’s Group sang, danced, and offered the book to Tiwi children and future generations. Check out the blog to learn more about these inspiring women and their beautiful book launch and place your pre-order here.McKyus Levi Wins the Individual Achievement Award from Autism Queensland
A big congratulations to McKyus Levi for winning the Individual Achievement Award from Autism Queensland! We have been so privileged to work with McKyus on the publication of The Monsters of McKyus, and attend the Community launch a couple of weeks ago.A Thank You from the ILF Programs Team
On behalf of the Programs team, we would like to say thank you to the Communities that engaged with our Programs, to the donors for continuing their support and for everyone following us on socials and our monthly e-newsletter. We have been hunkering down, planning workshops and field trips to remote Communities and our schedule for 2023 is shaping up to be our biggest year yet!We extend a heartfelt thank you to ALS Library Services who have been an ILF sponsor since 2013, storing and distributing our commercially available books and products. Thank you, Simon and Angela!
We are indebted to our partner Australia Post for their support with the delivery of Book Supply packs to remote Communities and their ongoing fundraising. Currently they have a festive bauble with artwork from ILF ambassador Gregg Dreise in store and online, with $2 from each sale donated to ILF.
A big thank you to Penguin Random House (PRH) ANZ who have generously donated $100,000 to support out 2023 programs.
‘Reading is an essential life skill and one that our staff is extremely passionate about. It means so much to be able to help support literacy and language while striving to get books into the hands of as many young people as we can across Australia.’ - CEO of PRH ANZ, Julie Burland.The ILF was chosen as the charity of choice for the DXC Technology Australia and New Zealand official opening of their new Customer Engagement Centre in the heart of Sydney. We would like to thank the team at DXC for this opportunity.
Become an ILF Partner
Community Fundraisers
Thank you to City of Kalamunda Library Services. Three of their library branches have ongoing book sales to raise funds for our Foundation.We would like to thank the Johnson Winter Slattery team, who have kindly supported our Foundation with their end-of-year initiative.
We would like to thank Guts Creative who are donating 10% of their profits to the ILF through their Guts Gives Back Program.
"Each year we give 10% of our profits to a charity who are helping to change the world. We’re inspired by the awesome work of ILF, helping Indigenous Communities to tell their own stories, in their own language, and protecting the precious culture of First Nations people".
Donations Welcome
Seasonal Closure
Please note that the ILF office will be closed from Saturday 24 December 2022 and re-open Tuesday 3 January 2023.MORE:
Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF)Address: PO Box H328, Australia Square NSW 1215
Tel: (02) 9280 0644