Many suggest to add paper and even redo the education process, but I'd like to put forward a solution I think that could be done with a minimal amount of change to the current systems in place.

1) I like the implementation of Churches and I support 4 church building to assist my suggestion but it is not required and is a matter for discussion elsewhere.
2) Replace the Mentoring skill with one called Scribe. This scribe can write or create messages/notes on an item that could to given to others or placed as a sign post for others to read. He could also copy a written item for replacement.
3) Paper could come in 3 forms with each having a higher durability of use. a) Birch bark done similar to silk cocoons where the scribe can process them into a birch bark type paper for use. b) Use flax fibers to process into reed paper for a higher durability paper. c) Use quality thin leather to process vellum, the highest paper type material with the best durability.
4) The scribe could give a blank page to someone. That person could write a small length of text attached to the item and each time the paper is used/the message is read or shown it is used and looses durability, like using other tools. This is great for messages and things like a warrant to arrest for RP value etc or even to leave at your village for the offline villager to read when they log in.
5) Several pages could be made into an item called a blank manuscript. This could be given to someone to write theirknowledge into. The naming of it then would be somethink like GrandpaCanucks lessons on Animal Lore as recorded by Scribe Guy. The quality and durability would be calculated from the skills of the 2 people creating the Manuscript and the quality of the blank manuscript. This learning tool could now be read once a day by people as attending a school works in game now. Every time it is read the durability goes down till the item is destroyed.
6) The scribe could copy the Manual onto new paper so more or others could use it he could even make many copies to sell and spread knowledge.
7) In the school or if churches get implemented they could have a binding for a piety clergy type and larger churches for more, like a Scribe. The school or church could hold the various manuals like registering to teach at a school is done now and people could come around to use the manuals to learn, even visitors to the village with permission.

I suggest at 0 the Scribe could write on and acquire birch paper, at 30 fiber paper and assemble birch manuals and 60 vellum paper and fiber manuals, and at 90 he could create vellum manuals. Also according to his skill he could copy onto blank paper a written manual. Maybe as skill grows the number of characters able to be recorded on the paper increases ie: Scribes skill equals the number of character that can be written on a note.

Please add comments and ways to tweak this into our current system.
To the developers, this solves a lot of holes in the current playing of the game especially role play servers. It could be done in small parts to test and alter before full implementation into the game, maybe even add the notes to the current mentor skill only as a start and only reed or vellum paper.

Please vote up 1 is you like any part of this, the devs need a signal from many that this will solve some difficulties in current play and help with immersion.

Grandpas daily advice........"We can not solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them" quote from Albert Einstein.