25 Ways to Build Your Literacy Bookshelf in 2025

By The Educator Collaborative Associate Member Stefani Boutelier

Are you mindful of your multiple and varied “literacies”—of how you learn, engage, and grow across different areas of life? Do you consider how you speak, listen, learn, and absorb information in your daily interactions?

Recently, a student in my Engaging Diverse Learners course shared a meaningful example of one of her many literacies. After a semester of discussing multiliteracies in our course together, she told me that her volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity had built her “construction literacy.” Thank you, KC, for reminding me that literacies are all around us, shaping the bookshelves of our lives.

This post is a call to reflect on the multiple literacies we continue to develop every day. Recognizing these as intentional paths for growth can help us communicate more effectively—both with ourselves and with our students. Being intentional about our own literacies deepens our understanding of ourselves and the world around us and enhances our ability to connect in spaces that require diverse ways of thinking and interacting.

Join me in considering how we can build and strengthen our literacies to improve our communication and actions. Below are 25 literacies we might consider focusing on in 2025. These are listed alphabetically, not in order of importance, as their relevance will vary for each individual and context. Be sure to bookmark this post for future reference, and feel free to add your own ideas in the comments.

1. Art & Music Literacy: These two cross over and run independently in supporting multiliteracies–creativity is key. Explore Choice-based art; think about creating in a place-based setting and inspiring writing using music.
2. Accessibility Literacy: This umbrella term is supported by accommodation, modification, UDL 3.0, inclusion, and neurodivergence to ultimately and always re-center our practices around our students.
3. Assessment Literacy: Formative design guides much of our understanding for our own learning and for our students (see also: data literacy).
4. Critical Literacy: To better understand what this is, read Vivian Maria Vasquez’s explanations here and listen to this interview with Shawna Coppola about her book, Literacy For All, on Multicultural Classroom’s Our Classroom podcast.
5. Data Literacy: All educators are data users, data collectors, and data thinkers–even if we don’t own it. Data often seems to run parallel with imposter syndrome. However, we are constantly using data (both quantitative and qualitative) in most of our actions; e.g. in backing up our design processes. Think more about what you do with data after watching this Gathering session with Dr. Towanda Harris & Nita Creekmore.
6. Design Thinking Literacy: Expand your understanding of iterative, inquiry-based processing strategies such as Computational Thinking, Project-Based Learning, and Design Thinking to increase creativity and innovation.
7. Digital Literacy: Do you go a day without using this literacy in your life? What part of your life is not fully disconnected? We must now understand conventions around AI, (e.g., defining generative AI, privacy, accessibility with AI, humans in the loop). We need to consider digital citizenship and also understand how our brains are being re-wired with hyper-exposure to digital interactions. The Educator Collaborative Associate Member Georgina Castilleja’s blog post about “taming” tech gives us more to ponder.
8. Disciplinary Literacy: Also referred to as content-area literacy or inter-disciplinary literacy, this supports subject-specific needs related to writing (think expository text), reading (e.g., analysis), speaking, and listening. 
9. Diverse Literacy: Viewed through the lens of multicultural education or culturally relevant pedagogy, this literacy is dependent on context. If thinking of it as a silo of diverse texts, you might remind yourself of Rudine Sims Bishop’s mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors analogy or maybe increase your understanding of the theory related to this topic from the work of Ladson-Billings, Hammond, Freire, and Simmons.
10. Equity literacy: Learn more at Embrace Race, Racial Equity Tools, and the Five Abilities of Equity Literacy to increase your equitable curricular design.
11. Gamified Literacy: Gamification and game theory can add to your own learning and how you facilitate others’ learning. How do you already do this?
12. Health Literacy: Blend and explore a deeper understanding of Mental Health, SEL considerations, and science literacy. 
13. Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL): How do you increase joy and criticality in your daily practice? Read/Listen to Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s explanation of HRL on the Cult of Pedagogy podcast to learn more about how this might look in practice.
14. Humor Literacy: This takes skill, wit, and oftentimes an emoji or sub-text to clarify sarcasm when only words are trying to convey humor, yet laughing and proper joking is invaluable in our daily routines. Coppola recently facilitated an inquiry around this through the Center for Playful Inquiry.
15. Information Literacy: This involves a lot of critiquing and awareness of lifelong learning. We have information in our pockets and as a digital extension of our being–use it for creation and not solely consumption. 
16. Indigenous Literacy: Beyond land acknowledgments, how do you deepen your understanding of Indigenous cultures and languages? We can start with Dr. Debbie Reese’s explanation of Native American “curtains,” explore Indigenous Coders or learn more about how AI is helping to protect First Languages that are near extinction.
17. Listening Literacy: A tongue twister, yet so imperative for effective communication and retention–What did you say? Active listening is a skill that is rarely taught, and in our distracted presence, we should all revisit how to actively listen as well as explore tools (e.g., text-to-speech) to increase comprehension through listening.
18. Math Literacy: This overlaps with data literacy, but realizing how often we use numeracy is a skill set that blends into our finances, cooking, eating, physical activity, transportation, and so many other applications.
19. Media Literacy: Yes, this fits under, above, and with many other literacies, so think about your definition and examine your “media” literacy usage. Do you model, mentor, practice safe media usage, critique new material, or assume it has become natural? Read and think more about media literacy with The Educator Collaborative Associate Member Cathline Tanis’s recent blog post on combatting misinformation.
20. MLL Literacy: Multilingual Learners bring varied linguistic experiences to our classrooms. Educators must keep learning how to best support all language learners and be inclusive in our practice. Learn more from Beth Puma’s recent Community blog post, “Being Multilingual Is Not Cause for Intervention,” and consider your own language portrait.
21. Multimodal Literacy: We all engage with multiliteracies to make multiple meanings. What does this look like for you as a learner and as an educator?
22. Physical Literacy: Physical literacy isn’t just for athletes; it’s a vital skill that overlaps with place-based, sports, music (bust a move!), and also mental health literacies. Just keep moving (remixed from the wise Dory)!
23. Place-based Literacy: Engage with nature, explore the outdoors, and incorporate hands-on learning into your teaching. Write about sensory experiences in natural settings or use outdoor spaces for scientific experiments.
24. Pop Literacy: It is imperative to think about how pop culture is always in shift mode. We must learn and be aware of generational phrases, understand how slang is in a perpetual “hyper” change mode because of the access to media, and also be cautious our classrooms aren’t filled only with dominant narratives.
25. Visual Literacy: Explore visual content and its connection to prior knowledge. Dissecting images or interpreting art, as seen in NYT “What’s going on here”, can spark new discussions and learning.

Literacy is everywhere, but we often neglect to nurture it with intention. Listing 25 for a catchy blog post (yet purposeful for memory activation) doesn’t encompass all the potential of literacy growth we can provide ourselves and our learners. Enjoy adding to your literacy bookshelf in 2025. What literacies will you intentionally feed this year? Add yours using the comment feature below.