The magazine Libelle, in collaboration with the Reading and Writing Foundation, has made a special Libelle for people who have problems with reading and writing. The Dragonfly Extra Easy to read will be published on 25 October in an edition of 100,000 copies and will be distributed free of charge, thanks in part to an additional donation from the National Postcode Lottery.
The Dragonfly Extra Easy to read has a low-threshold use of words, short sentences and a more streamlined design. With this, the editors hope to appeal to a target group that normally reads little or no magazines. Our country has about 2.5 million people who have difficulty with reading, writing and arithmetic. This has an enormous impact on their daily lives, also for example due to the problems they have with their smartphone and computer.
Letter from a reader
The editors of Libelle got the idea through a letter from a reader. Editor-in-chief Hilmar Mulder: “A Dutch teacher who also teaches new Dutch people approached us. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a Libelle for people who have difficulty reading or are just learning to read Dutch?’ That seemed like a nice plan to us. We sat down with the Reading and Writing Foundation and they were also interested in it.” The editors of Libelle, together with the Reading and Writing Foundation, pitched the plan to the Postcode Lottery.
Dragonfly-Reading Fun
Editor-in-chief Hilmar Mulder is proud of the collaboration and the result. “We wish all women the pleasure of reading Libelle. With this special edition, anyone who wants to improve their reading and writing experience can experience the joy and relaxation of flipping through a magazine.”
Stumbling Words or Difficult Sentence Constructions
Mulder continues: “As editors, we have learned a lot from this. The editors have gone on a course to be able to retranslate everything to B1 level. And the design has also been completely overhauled. More peace of mind, fewer fonts, larger letters, more white space.”
It was a challenge for the editors to make a dragonfly with clear language, without stumbling words or difficult sentence constructions and with a calm design. “We have all become much more aware of the effect that all these elements together have on people who can’t read very well. We have literally looked at our own content with different eyes, and thanks to the panel of former low-literate people who cooperated,” says Mulder.
Circulation: 100,000 copies
The special edition of Libelle is distributed free of charge. The magazine goes to thousands of libraries, town halls, GP practices, reading folders, regional training centers and volunteer organizations. The magazine does not only reach low-literate people, but also their neighbours, colleagues, family, and so on. The Libelle – Extra easy to read, for example, provides more awareness about low literacy and the importance of an accessible society. Libelle also hopes that a new reader group will be introduced to magazines. “We think a magazine is the ideal way to make people enthusiastic about reading,” concludes Mulder.
