NEWS FEATURE
What part will libraries play in the National Year of Reading?
With 2026 now set to be the National Year of Reading, Rob Mackinlay asks librarians what they think this campaign might do for the sector and what the sector can do for the campaign.
WHEN a National Year of Reading (NYR) was announced by the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson in July its press release mentioned libraries as one of the key elements.
“Bringing together parents, schools, libraries, businesses and literacy experts, the campaign aims to foster a love of reading for pleasure in children and young people, ensuring all children get the best start in life.” The campaign is jointly led by the government and the National Literacy Trust, whose CEO, Jonathan Douglas, made a similar point, saying: “The National Year of Reading 2026 presents an opportunity to join forces across sectors and redefine reading as a powerful, contemporary activity for a generation. Working closely with schools, families, libraries, communities and partners across the country, we will make reading a shared national mission.”
Support
There is currently little formal detail for libraries and library bodies, but the sector is ready to put its weight behind the campaign – CILIP has publicly supported it (
https://tinyurl.com/ IPnewsFA25). It is seen as a chance to highlight the capabili- ties of libraries and make connections in a complex literacy ecosystem.
Jake Hope, Reading Development and Children’s Book consultant, said: “We have a lot of organisations and groups in the UK committed to promoting reading and literacy. The flip side is that lots of people are pulling in slightly dif- ferent directions. The National Year of Reading offers an opportunity to showcase the importance of this skill. Through it we can try to unite a range of different perspectives and a range of expertise. It is absolutely crucial – I mean, obviously not biased! – that libraries are a part of that. There’s a real opportunity for the libraries here to profile our resources and our skills. We’ve just got to make sure that we are part of that conversation.”
Culture
The Government press release focused on parents, “calling on parents to lead by example and make reading a daily habit”. Jake said: “Research shows that reading for pleasure levels are at the lowest they’ve ever been for children and young people, but my suspicion is that reading for pleasure levels are very low among adults as well. We need to think about ways to build robust cultures for reading.” He said: “Actively modelling reading is one way to do this. Parents and carers are among the people that children spend most time with so they warrant particular focus.”
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Partly because we’re seeing a generation of adults who have grown up with a focus on reading for purpose – and the more you make something a chore, the less people are likely to want to continue with it as a leisure pursuit.” He adds: “If we’re talking about building cultures of read-
ing, having known reading role models – like parents and carers, the people that children spend the vast majority of their time with – is more important to children.”
Infectious culture Viv Hill, chair of CILIP’s Public and Mobile Libraries Group (PMLG) emphasised this point, that public libraries cater “for all ages – from cradle to grave”, but adds that they naturally encourage community, communication and trying new things. She gave public library book clubs as an example of adult reading for pleasure, saying: “Even if you are quite affluent, buying all the books you read, you probably go for a safe bet, you go for an author you know. It isn’t expanding, it’s tunnel vision.”
Public libraries and their book clubs (or any book club) whether physical or online are places where “you start talking to people, start challenging what you’ve got out of it and you’re pulled in when somebody else has really enjoyed it and expressed that enjoyment,” Viv explains. “People realise ‘I’ve been missing out on thousands of books I could have been testing, trying and discarding’. I think that’s crucial for adults.”
Another infectious culture The NYR also has a commercial aspect, with most of its part- ners being publishers (
www.nationalyearofreading.org.uk/partners). And the public library sector already has deep roots with commercial stakeholders. One such area is the CILIP-run Carnegies Awards for children’s books.
Stella Hine, the current chair of judges (all of whom are librarians), said the main awards and particularly the shad- owing scheme are great tools for building reading culture and communities for young people.
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The National Year of Reading offers an opportunity to showcase the importance of this skill. Through it we can try to unite a range of different perspectives and a range of expertise. – Jake Hope
Autumn 2025
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