Cultivating Global Literacy: Children’s Multilingual Literature Exhibition, Development and Adaptation

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Cultivating Global Literacy: Children’s Multilingual Literature Exhibition, Development and Adaptation

Proposal

Considering the necessity and importance of developing/adapting children’s books in various world languages, I would like to deliver and organize the Cultivating Global Literacy: Children’s Multilingual Literature Exhibition, Development and Adaptation poster presentation and long-term workshop each year with the following scope and approach:

1. Showcasing the existing children’s literature on a poster through QR Codes during the CIES Conference: Before the CIES conference, an announcement will drafted and shared/published through the CIES newsletter, website, and email to the CIES 2025 potential participants. Through the announcement, children's literature publishers, authors, and translators (organizations and individuals) will be requested to provide QR codes for their existing children's materials. During the CIES 2025 conference, all these QR codes will be showcased on a poster on a reserved table for broad accessibility to the existing materials during the conference. The existing materials/resources could be African Story Book, StoryWeaver, https://digitallibrary.io/topic/library-books/, Bloom - Book Library of shell books to download into Bloom Editor or smaller organizations like Nalibali and more open resources.
2. Children’s literature development/adaptation long-term workshop: During the CIES 2025 conference, interested participants will be invited to sign up/register for developing/ adapting children’s books from the existing materials, QR codes, or new titles into various world languages. After the CIES Conference, the following activities will be conducted:
a. Collaboration with SIL Lead for branded template: Upon accepting this proposal, I will contact the SIL Lead and request to create a new collection in the Bloom Library and a branded template. Within the collection, a sample template will be drafted with detailed instructions for authors and translators.
b. Bloom Reader Virtual Training: Once all the interested authors/translators have registered during the CIES conference, a short virtual training will be delivered using Bloom Reader to develop/adapt their titles. Authors/translators will familiarize themselves with the branded template during this training and gain the required Bloom software-using skills. They will also learn how to translate/adapt the existing titles in the Bloom Library and access thousands of illustrations in the Bloom Gallery.
c. Children’s Literature development/adaptation process: If required, one-on-one support will be provided to the registered and trained authors/translators to develop/adapt their selected titles and follow up on their progress. Bloom's platform can develop/host resources in different formats to contribute to a more inclusive and diverse literary landscape that benefits children worldwide. Authors/translators can also create a book using ChatGPT 4o, Text2Img, Translate, Dall-E for illustrations, and other AI tools.
d. Publishing: Once authors/translators develop and adapt their titles within the branded templates, all these materials will be published in a new collection in Bloom Library, an open source with thousands of titles in various world languages. These titles will be published in PDF, ePUB, and Bloom formats. Furthermore, interested publishers/organizations can print and distribute specific language material to their children.
Relevance:
This endeavor supports Envisioning Education in a Digital Society and aligns with CIES's mission to promote educational and cultural exchanges. Further, it addresses the pressing need for literacy resources in various global contexts.

Author

• Muhiburrahman Muhib, Consultant/Self-employed