Local MP & former Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries, Justin Tomlinson, has once again hosted the Parliamentary launch of The Reading Agency’s incredibly popular Summer Reading Challenge.
The Summer Reading Challenge is designed to encourage all primary-age children to use the school holidays to read for fun. It is a unique partnership between The Reading Agency and public libraries across the UK which last year saw over three quarters of a million children borrowing, reading & talking about their favourite books, including thousands in Swindon.
Research shows that reading for pleasure is a more powerful factor in life achievement than socio-economic background and that children who use libraries are twice as likely to be above average readers. The Summer Reading Challenge builds confidence and independent reading, while helping to prevent the dip in children’s reading levels during the long summer break from school.
An avid reader himself, for several years Justin has hosted the launch event in Parliament and was this year joined by dozens of MPs from all parties who took the opportunity to learn more about the Challenge as well as picking up books for their local community.
This year's Summer Reading Challenge is Mischief Makers; celebrating the 80th anniversary of the much-loved comic, Beano.
To take part in the Mischief Makers Summer Reading Challenge, all children need to do is to head to their local library where they will be given a colourful collector’s map of Beanotown to keep a record of their reading journey. As children read at least six library books over the summer, they will collect stickers which will help them crack the clues and help Dennis, Gnasher and friends find the buried treasure!
Children can use the special website mischief-makers.org.uk to create a profile, chat about books, and get help on what to read next, via the digital Book Sorter which already offers over 600,000 peer to peer children’s book recommendations in child-friendly categories.
The Summer Reading Challenge reaches children and young people of all ages. For pre-schoolers there is a mini-challenge while young people (aged 13 to 24) can volunteer and support younger children taking part, as part of The Reading Agency’s Reading Hack programme.
This year’s Summer Reading Challenge begins across England and Wales on Saturday 14 July and Justin will be working with libraries & students in Swindon to ensure the Challenge continues to be a success.
Locally, Swindon libraries are again on the hunt for volunteers who will help with the summer reading challenge. Please contact Deborah Jackson on DJackson@swindon.gov.uk if you can lend any time locally to help more youngsters to get involved. Predominantly volunteers will help out with greeting people on the way into the library, and helping out with the forms that the children need to fill in.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “I hope parents, grandparents and carers in North Swindon will take their children to the library over the summer to sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge. I had the Beano on weekly subscription as a youngster, so this year’s theme is definitely my favourite so far! Last year 2698 children in Swindon took part. I hope we can increase that number this year and encourage more local youngsters to experience the pleasure of reading!”
Sue Wilkinson, CEO of The Reading Agency said: “At The Reading Agency, we believe that everything changes when we read and we know from our research how much fun families and children have when taking part in the Challenge. Mischief Makers offers intergenerational appeal and we hope this family friendly, accessible theme will inspire more children than ever to read over the holidays and make use of their local library throughout the summer and beyond."
Mark Freeman, President of Libraries Connected, said: “The Summer Reading Challenge is one of the highlights of the year in libraries. Encouraging children to read over the summer holidays helps them to see reading as a fun way to spend their time and now they can get tips on creating a bit of mischief too! Just as exciting is giving young people the opportunity to volunteer and support the challenge in libraries. We are so pleased at Libraries Connected to continue our partnership with The Reading Agency and look forward to welcoming even more children into our libraries this summer.”
For more information on the Summer Reading Challenge including how to get involved and resources for schools, go to www.readingagency.org.uk/summerreadingchallenge
Follow the Summer Reading Challenge at www.facebook.com/SummerReadingChallengeUK and on Twitter @readingagency #summerreadingchallenge
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For more information please contact justin.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk | 01793 533393
