This week I signed up to the The Reading Agency campaign which calls for every child to jointheir local library and take part in this year's Summer Reading Challenge - the UK's largest reading-for-pleasure promotion for primary school children.
Having served as the All-Party Parliamentary Group Chair for Libraries, it's always a pleasure to host this very popular event in Parliament. Whilst national library usage is falling, last year Swindon's children read 13,684 books as part of the Reading Challenge. Indeed, children's library usage is rising, bucking the trend and providing a fantastic boost to literacy rates in our town. The campaign is also intended to inspire children to share their reading choices and builds on the National Curriculum which suggests that children "recommend books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices."
This year's Challenge runs from Saturday 19th July to Sunday 7th September. Children can sign up at their local library and can read six library books of their choice, collecting stickers and other rewards along the way. There will also be a library card amnesty and fines will be waived on children's library cards. With an ambitious target of 14,000 children's book to be read in Swindon, I very much hope that children will once again flock to our local libraries.
On Monday I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the Grange Community Centre Library. Stratton St Margaret Parish Council has pro-actively worked to provide a new lending service, stocked by the Swindon Library Service. This service will work in addition to the mobile library service provided for the local community and I am sure it will be popular with local residents.
Also this week, the Government has announced it will invest £199.3 million in major projects across Swindon and Wiltshire. As Cllr. David Renard and Robert Buckland MP have already written this week, this is fantastic news meaning we can attract new investment and continue to create new jobs.
Finally, our summer of sport hasn't gone according to plan. Aside from the fantastic Swindon School Games, we have seen disappointment in the World Cup, Test Cricket, Wimbledon and Tour de France – testing times for fans! Thankfully we are closing in on the return of the domestic football season, with the annual Swindon Supermarine FC v Swindon Town friendly on Saturday, 3pm at Supermarine. Not only is this an opportunity for the fans to see the two teams as they begin their pre-season preparation, but it is also a crucial fundraiser for Swindon Supermarine; potentially their biggest of the season. Here's to good weather, a big crowd and lots of goals!
