Reading for pleasure is an endangered skill amongst young people: how can we combat this?

With a recent report from The National Literacy Trust showing the biggest reduction in the number of children reading for pleasure in their free time since their records began in 2005*, Dame Allan’s Schools Library Manager Mrs Sarah Huck addresses why this is such a worrying problem, and what schools can do to encourage young readers.

With the proliferation of smartphones, gaming, streaming, and social media, childrens’ attention spans are suffering. They are not developing the skills or habits of sitting down with a book and delving into the story, and I really think this could be a disaster going forward if pupils aren’t building a positive relationship with reading.

As parents are often working such long hours, I can completely understand the temptation to end the day with Netflix, or with a game on the iPad. However, without getting children into the mindset that books are a fun and rewarding option, it means they’ll struggle in the future to engage with reading as a pleasurable pursuit.

Ten minutes of storytime before bed is a simple and effective way to get younger children excited about reading and show them how comforting it can be. As schools, we should be encouraging reading for pleasure wherever we can. Reading is also about resilience, learning to stick with a story past the first few pages and let the narrative unfold.

But, how can we compete with the allure of shiny tech? I suggest that schools start with the fundamentals. Make reading for pleasure part of weekly school life – not just reading as part of an English lesson or history assignment.

At Dame Allan’s, all Junior School pupils, from Nursery upwards have allocated reading time in the Library. This allows them to get comfortable in a library environment and enjoy the independence of choosing their own book, and losing themselves in a great tale!

Once they reach the Senior School, Year 7 pupils also enjoy weekly timetabled ‘Library Lessons’, where they have quiet reading time to read something of their own choosing, plus a library activity based on a theme – for example, in honour of Remembrance Sunday, we might explore books on war.

We also stock other forms of reading, like Manga, e-books, and magazines. We don’t want to be prescriptive about what a child enjoys reading in their spare time, but rather make it so they know they can come and access it easily. We also offer books that are specially designed for pupils with additional needs like dyslexia. The addition of different formats and genres means that we can hopefully appeal to a wider range of pupils; particularly boys, who have seen the biggest dip in those reading for pleasure in their spare time, with less than a third doing so according to the NLT report.

We encourage cross-curricular collaboration between the Library and other departments too. For example, every year our Year 12 biology students are asked to produce a book review on a biology-themed book of their choosing, which sees them come and explore the Library for some time – it is great to see! We also worked with our Outdoor Education team, who had the idea of theming an expedition around a popular adventure book series, Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. They all received copies of the book to take on the trip to read by the campfire and keep as a memento of the experience.

One of the lovely ways we have also diversified the Library is by opening it up to pupils taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh programme. They can complete their volunteering requirements by becoming a library volunteer, which is a three or six month commitment. Often, the pupils who choose to do this might not be voracious readers when they first come in, but you do see them getting more comfortable and checking out the books. If we can encourage just a handful of these children to take up reading in their spare time, it will be worth it.

Finally, think about how you can make your Library a hub within your school. We often hold events in the Library that aren’t necessarily just about reading. We have hosted chess tournaments, quizzes, debates, drama workshops and games, all of which encourage people to visit. And, if they happen to stumble upon a book, even better!

*Source: https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/children-and-young-peoples-reading-in-2024/