Campaign aims to crack code of illiteracy issue

Mary Carey wants to make illiteracy an election issue — and she’s tricking people into thinking they can’t read to do it.

Carey is the campaign director at Bootstraps PAC, the organization responsible for the signs all around the Triangle that feature a random collection of colorful letters with a bar code linking to the organization’s website.

The organization works to illuminate the illiteracy problem among children in the area.

“Our hope is to make these kids an election issue,” Carey said. “The school board can have the greatest impact on these kids.”

Four Chapel Hill residents are running for three seats on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education.

The candidates are incumbents James Barrett and Michelle Brownstein, and Andrew Davidson and Ignacio Tzoumas.

“I don’t understand what it is saying at all,” freshman Blaine Sanders said about the signs.

The election-like signs are placed at prominent intersections in Chapel Hill, including Franklin Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Chapel Hill resident Susan Dell said she was intrigued by the signs when she first saw one but didn’t know what it meant.

“I don’t know if I would scan the code unless I saw it a few times and really had the time,” she said.

The signs did draw the interest of Alex Orocz, a UNC graduate student, although he did not immediately know the meaning.

“I couldn’t decipher what it was when I read it, so I imagine (for) someone who’s illiterate, it must be pretty tough.”

But Orocz said it was unlikely he would try to find out the purpose of the signs on his own.

“I’ve actually never scanned a QR code before, despite having a smartphone,” he said.

Katrina Battle, a graduate student at UNC, also didn’t understand the signs, but she said she felt the issue of illiteracy is important.

“I know illiteracy is a problem everywhere, and I do realize the importance of reading, especially with parents with smaller kids,” she said.

Though the campaign left many Chapel Hill residents perplexed, when Dell found out the meaning of the signs, she said she was enthusiastic.

“That’s awesome,” she said. “What a great use of letters.”

city@dailytarheel.com