ABC Sydney Morning Show presenter, Deborah Cameron, is lending support to the Indigenous Literacy Project with a silent auction of a stunning library of books, many signed by the author.

The silent auction will run for a week from Monday 24 November – Friday 28 November. The library of almost 100 books has a value of more than $2500.  All proceeds from the auction will go to the Indigenous Literacy Project which is aiming to raise $250,000 this year to help address the crisis in literacy.  Our year to date fundraising has reached: $199,000.

The collection includes a wide range of current fiction and non fiction from leading authors who have been interviewed by Deborah including chefs, politicians, historians and celebrities. The collection includes topical titles as well as children’s, food, history, gardening, art, philosophy, politics as well as books from some of the Indigenous Literacy Project's ambassadors including David Malouf, Andy Griffiths, Tara June Winch and Anita Heiss.  Some of the featured books include: The Woodblock Painting of Cressida Campbell; Ferran Adria's A day at Elbulli; Chris Mansfield's Fire; Michelle de Krester's The Lost Dog, Gareth Evan's The Responsibility to Protect, The Western Front Diaries by Jonathan King and many more.

See the full list of the books.

Place your bid through our website.

Tune into ABC 702 every morning at 9.35am to check the progress of the auction.

Good luck and good bidding!

The beautiful, lively spirit of the children in the Jawoyn communities had a profound effect on the group of booksellers, publishers, authors, Ambassadors and Fred Hollows Foundation staff who visited them in August as part of the ongoing work of the Indigenous Literacy Project.

You can read a report of the trip here.

The Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) is a partnership between the Australian Book Industry and The Fred Hollows Foundation that raises funds to purchase and supply books and other culturally appropiate material to remote communities where The Foundation works.

We started in 2004 with a simple question:  What could we do to help address the current literacy crisis in remote Indigenous communities.  We were deeply concerned that illiteracy in many of these communities was a common and critical barrier to the kind of full, healthy and happy life many of us take for granted.  Low literacy is consistently linked to poor health, social and economic outcomes.

More simply we couldn’t imagine a world without books and reading.  More

In 2007 the Australian Book Industry raised $250,000, far exceeding our target of $100,000. A very generous donation of $65,000 was received from the NSW Bar Association 2007 SILKS.

The funds raised will be put to work by our partners at The Fred Hollows Foundation who work in close collaboration with many remote Indigenous communities. The Fred Hollows Foundation will provide literacy resources for many communities in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and five communities in Western New South Wales and Queensland.  More

The Indigenous Literacy Project is a partnership between