PEORIA, Ill. – If you think something you’re reading is “fake news,” the Peoria Public Library might be able to help you determine that.
The library, and Peoria Public Schools, are partnering together on a number of initiatives to help promote media literacy.
The partnership was announced as part of National Media Literacy Week.
“I spent this weekend, my team and I, for example, spent all Friday, all Saturday, all Sunday, refuting information on social media,” said Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, PPS Superintendent. “‘This is…this is fake. This does not apply to us.'”
Desmoulin-Kherat says the initiative is “timely.”
The library will work with the school district to improve its media literacy curriculum, and will host a number of sessions for the public to help it better identify “fake news” and misinformation, especially that which is purposefully spread.
Library Executive Director Randall Yelverton says one of those will be Wednesday night.
“This is going to be a virtual program, and it’s called ‘Believe It or Not! Media Literacy Tools You Can Trust,'” said Yelverton. “We’re offering this in collaboration with the Freedom Forum. It’s going to help people understand tools they can use to put the information they’re receiving up against, so that they can discern good from bad, and get better doing that.”
CLICK HERE to find out more information about that program.
The state will require media literacy instruction in schools starting next school year.
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