Reading for Pleasure Campaign

The Society of Authors is running a campaign to encourage reading for pleasure in schools. The campaign aims to:

- provide a library in every school run by a specially trained teacher or librarian.

- support teachers with initiatives which will inspire children's love of reading.

- include author visits and residences in Ofsted’s accreditation process.

The Society has lobbied the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb,and raised an Early Day Motion in Parliament in support of this campaign. 

Early Day Motions are rarely debated in the House of Commons, but provide a mechanism for raising awareness of issues. So far, this has been signed by 44 MPs with representation from across the political spectrum.   The motion is:-

That this House notes that one of the Government's priorities is for all children to read daily for pleasure; believes that every school should have a well-stocked library; further notes that research shows that children who have access to a school library and who read for pleasure reach higher levels of attainment in all subjects; further notes that the best way to encourage children to read for pleasure is by free voluntary reading; and calls on the Government to continue to take all necessary steps to encourage school libraries.

 

Interested in writing for children? Take a look at our Writer Pages to see how we can help!