This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Principal Libraries Outreach Officer (Children and Young Peoeple), Alison Beer for the attention of all schools and early year settings.
National Year of Reading
The National Year of Reading 2026 is a campaign that will engage new audiences in reading, encourage reading for pleasure and change the nation’s reading culture for good. The vision is for a society where reading for pleasure is a joyful, visible and meaningful activity — for everyone, regardless of background, income, age or identity. The campaign hopes to achieve this through a consumer facing marketing campaign that reaches and engages new audiences, and a collective impact campaign delivered locally and nationally through partners to mobilise communities. The National Year of Reading is stewarded by the National Literacy Trust and sponsored by the Department for Education.
Key aims and objectives
1. Make reading relevant: Reading is ‘re-branded’ as socially meaningful, culturally visible, and personally valuable
2. Engage new audiences: A universal campaign encouraging everyone in the UK to read more frequently, in more ways; with targeted approaches reaching children, young people and families from disadvantaged communities
3. Transform practice and build infrastructure: the National Year of Reading 2026 creates a legacy – changing reading culture in schools, communities and beyond
The campaign branding can be seen at National Year of Reading 2026 | Go All In
The campaign seeks to connect people to reading through their interests, passions and things that are important to them. There is dedicated information for schools:
Schools | National Year of Reading 2026 | Go All In
What's On For Schools | National Year Of Reading 2026 | National Literacy Trust
The Authorfy website is free to use during the National Year of Reading.
Browse the large library of author videos, get unlimited access to thousands of book extracts, resources and writing challenges, and connect with hundreds of children’s authors and illustrators at the touch of a button.
Slough libraries are here to support your National Year of Reading activities. We can offer class visits to the library and outreach visits to schools, including assemblies. We can also deliver workshops for parents and are happy to attend school events, such as parents’ evenings and school fairs.
Please contact Alison Beer, Slough Libraries, alison.beer@slough.gov.uk to arrange library visits or activities, or for further information on the National Year of Reading.