Digitally Lit

Digitally Lit is a not-for-profit society that empowers Atlantic Canadian youth through digital literacy and storytelling. Our programs bolster community engagement with local books, stories, and art while celebrating diversity, advancing equity, and improving accessibility in the region's creative industries. History In 2019, four regional book publishers, each representing one of the four Atlantic provinces, teamed up with strategic consultants to tackle two major industry challenges: digital disruption and an aging demographic. It quickly became apparent that enhancing digital capacity and developing an engaged youth demographic were crucial for addressing these issues. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Strategy Fund, a digital youth strategy commenced with one year of extensive academic and grassroots research into the digital literacy and reading habits of contemporary youth. This deep-dive revealed a strong link between youth engagement, digital literacy, place-based learning, and critical pedagogy, highlighting the urgent need for innovative engagement initiatives. It was from this research, Digitally Lit was born. We've been developing successful and youth engagement programs and growing our mandate ever since. In 2024, Digitally Lit was established as a not-for-profit society, marking an important milestone in our journey. What We Do We develop and deliver innovative digitally-driven youth initiatives aimed at amplifying local books, stories, art and media; promoting digital and traditional literacy; celebrating diversity; building community and a sense of belonging; fostering connection through creativity; and encouraging critical thinking. We collaborate with book creators, artists, media producers, community organizations, educators and more to both celebrate and critically engage with local storytelling. Together we aim to foster a more sustainable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible arts and media landscape in the region.