An education committee inquiry has concluded that the National Year of Reading should be extended to a National Decade of Reading. The committee also proposed a National Reading Guarantee to ensure all children have regular opportunities to enjoy reading.
Inquiry Findings and Recommendations
The Reading for Pleasure inquiry, launched last November in response to a sharp decline in children reading for pleasure, published its report on Friday. National Literary Trust CEO Jonathan Douglas told the committee that this year's National Year of Reading should be "turned into a decade of reading to sustain the foundations that are being laid."
Extending the initiative would mean reading for pleasure "remains a long-term priority" and could be used "as an opportunity to effect much more far-reaching change to embed reading for pleasure into all areas of education," the report states.
National Reading Guarantee
The proposed National Reading Guarantee would ensure all children, "regardless of background," have frequent opportunities to "enjoy books, stories and shared reading experiences from birth to 18 as part of everyday life." While adopting a "broad" definition of reading, the report emphasizes encouraging engagement with "traditional" books, "recognising the particular benefits that traditional books bring." Jo Taylor, an associate professor at UCL, noted that "the complexity of the language in a graphic novel will not be the same as the complexity of a language in a traditional novel."
Screen Use and Other Factors
The report identifies the rise of screen use as a "major factor" reducing time spent reading for pleasure. Author Onyinye Iwu told the inquiry that students often say, "Miss, but we have TikTok. What is the point?" However, the report states that "England is lagging so far behind the international average that we cannot place the blame solely on screens." Other factors include the cost of living, modern work patterns, lack of library access, and "competing curriculum demands."
Boys and Reading
Douglas highlighted that boys may struggle to read because "from birth girls are more likely to be bought books as presents and to be taken to the library, so the gendering of reading as an activity happens almost unconsciously." Fewer male teachers and a lack of male role models who read may also contribute.
Policy and Curriculum Changes
The cross-party committee, chaired by Labour MP Helen Hayes, recommends extending the Department for Education's (DfE) pledge to deliver a library in every primary school to secondary schools. It also calls for restoring public library funding lost since 2010 and supports automatically issuing library cards at birth. The report criticizes last year's curriculum review as a "missed opportunity" and argues that the GCSE English Literature curriculum should be diversified: "It is unacceptable that, in 2023, only 1.5% of students had studied a text by a writer of colour at GCSE."
Reactions and Next Steps
Isobel Hunter, chief executive at Libraries Connected, said the committee has issued a "clear call to action" and urged the government to make reading for pleasure part of its wider mission to spread opportunity. The DfE stated it would reply to the recommendations, with a spokesperson saying, "Everyone has a role to play in rekindling children's love of reading: government, families, schools and libraries. That's why we welcome this report."
