Justin Tomlinson MP today welcomed news from the Swindon Libraries that their Summer Reading Challenge continues to flourish.
The Summer Reading Challenge is a national strategy for reader development, coordinated by The Reading Agency. It aims to help get young children reading over the long summer holidays to prevent the reading ‘dip’ when children return to school in September.
This year’s Swindon Story Lab theme tied in with the Olympics, which certainly proved popular.
• 3,360 children joined the challenge, a 14% increase from 2011
• 1,822 children completed the challenge, a 25% increase from 2011
• There was a 4% increase of completers compared to joiners
• Children read 12,364 books as part of the challenge, an increase of 19% from 2011
Justin Tomlinson MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries said: “I am delighted with the success of the reading challenge in Swindon. Reading is a really important part of growing up, and the huge increase in the numbers both joining and completing the challenge is a testament to the creativity of the team in Swindon. The Olympics theme has certainly proved popular!”
“I am also impressed by the numbers of volunteers who helped run the challenge, especially young people. 57 people together put in over 1000 hours, and a third of these were under 24.”
Feedback from children included:
• “I really enjoyed the challenge. I’ve become a better reader and developed my self-confidence” (girl, aged 7)
• “I am now reading 3 times faster than at the start of the summer. I am also reading a lot more” (girl, aged 15)
• “I thought the story lab was great…because this helped my imagination and reading skills” (boy, aged 8)
Feedback from parents included:
• After my son received the gold medal he felt like a winner. It’s encouraging him and his self-confidence
• Jasper has started to enjoy books independently since taking part
• It’s helping her to understand letters and how words are formed
• It has been really nice for Sam to have a chance to talk to a range of people about his books. It has helped him to gain confidence in talking to new people and has encouraged him to talk in detail about the books he reads
