Investigation says the National Year of Reading should be extended to a decade books

The National Year of Reading should be extended into the National Decade of Reading, an Education Commission investigation into reading for pleasure has concluded.

The Committee believes that the Government must also commit to the National Reading Guarantee which ensures that all children have regular opportunities to enjoy reading.

The Reading for Pleasure investigation was launched last November in response to the sharp decline in the number of children reading for pleasure.

Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the National Literary Fund, told the committee that this year’s National Year of Reading should “become a decade of reading to maintain the foundations that are being laid,” according to the investigative report published on Friday.

Expanding the scope of the initiative means that reading for pleasure “remains a long-term priority” and can be used “as an opportunity for far-reaching change to integrate reading for pleasure into all areas of education,” the report says.

Meanwhile, the National Reading Guarantee will ensure that all children, “regardless of their background,” have frequent opportunities “to enjoy books, stories and shared reading experiences from birth to age 18 as part of everyday life,” he adds.

Although the report suggests that the safeguard should adopt a “broad” definition of reading, it says children should be encouraged to engage with “traditional” books, “recognizing the special benefits that traditional books bring”. “The complexity of language in a graphic novel will not be the same as the complexity of language in a traditional novel,” Joe Taylor, associate professor of language and cognition at University College London, told the investigation.

The cross-party committee, chaired by Labor MP Helen Hayes, says the Department for Education should extend its pledge to provide a library in every primary school to secondary schools. It also says the government must restore funding for public libraries lost since 2010, and supports calls for library cards to be automatically issued at birth.

The rise in screen use is a “major factor” in reducing the time children spend reading for pleasure, according to the report. Writer, illustrator and teacher Onyeni Ewu told the inquiry that when she asked students why they were not reading, “a lot of them would say: ‘Miss, but we have TikTok. What’s the point?” That’s it. You’ve got TikTok, you’ve got Netflix, you’ve got the movie coming out; why are you reading the book?

However, the report notes that “England lags so far behind the global average that we can’t just blame screens.” The cost of living, modern work patterns, lack of access to libraries, and “competitive curriculum demands” are also important factors.

Douglas told the inquiry that boys in particular may find reading difficult because “books are more likely to be bought for girls from birth and taken to the library, so the gendering of reading as an activity occurs almost unconsciously at a very early stage.” Fewer male teachers and a lack of male reading role models may also contribute to boys’ lower reading.

According to the report, there is “little evidence” that the National Reading Year “has influenced the core work” of the Department for Education in relation to schools and early years. She adds that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), especially those with dyslexia, are a “key priority group” missing from the year-long initiative.

She suggests that early years reading should “focus on building enjoyment and engagement in relation to school readiness and phonics learning”.

The report says last year’s curriculum review was a “missed opportunity” to create more space for children to develop a real joy in reading, adding that the English literature curriculum at GCSE must be diversified: “It is unacceptable that in 2023, only 1.5% of students studied a text by a writer of color at GCSE, and we do not understand why the curriculum and assessment review has failed to address this crucial issue.”

The investigation concluded that the decline in reading for pleasure is “not inevitable” and is the result of “policy choices, fragmented systems, and unequal access.”

Isobel Hunter, chief executive at Libraries Connected, said the committee had issued a “clear call to action”, adding: “We urge the incoming Burnham government to make reading for pleasure part of its wider mission to spread opportunity and improve life chances.”