Part 5 – The Reading Crisis – Why children aren’t reading and what we can do about it.

In part 5 we continue looking at what works to support reading for pleasure, focusing more this time on opportunities for authors to engage with readers and the importance of wider family and community involvement and spaces to discover and talk about books.

For this series we interviewed the following people (not all feature in every episode):

Dapo Adeola – Author and the illustrator of many books including Look Up!, Clean Up!and My Dad is a Grizzly Bear.

Sita Brahmachari – Author of many books including Artichoke Hearts, When Shadows Falland Phoenix Brothers

Dr Darren Chetty – Lecturer at UCL Institute of Education and author, with Professor Karen Sands O’Connor, of Beyond the Secret Garden 

Professor Teresa Cremin – Professor of Education and Co-Director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre at The Open University

Charlotte Hacking – Teacher Engagement Lead at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy and Research and Curriculum Lead at Herne Hill School 

Jenny Hawke – Children’s Librarian and Chair of the Youth Library Group

Tom Palmer – Author of many books including Angel of Grasmere, Resist and War Dog 

Glynn Palmer–Bell – Assistant Director of English at Castle View Enterprise Academy, Sunderland

Louie Stowell – Author of many books including the Loki series, Otherland and the Dragon in the Library

Sabrina Sulliman – English teacher at Southfields Academy, South West London

At the end of the series we will invite comments and ideas from listeners so look out for how you can contribute to the discussion.

Many thanks to everyone we interviewed and to our Co Producer Belinda Naylor.

Send us a message

Katy
0:11

Hi,

I'm

Katy

Ali
0:12

Katy
0:12

Katy
0:12

and

I'm

Ali,

and

this

is

Mostly

Book

Talk.

Welcome

to

part

five

of

our

series

about

the

reading

crisis:

why

children

aren't

reading

and

what

we

can

do

about

it.

Ali
0:20

In

this

part,

we

continue

looking

at

what

works

to

support

Reading

for

Pleasure,

focusing

more

this

time

on

opportunities

for

authors

to

engage

with

readers

and

the

importance

of

wider

family

and

community

involvement

and

spaces

to

discover

and

talk

about

book s.

Katy
0:34

We

start

with

Illustrator

Dappa

Adiola,

who

highlights

the

importance

of

author

visits

in

introducing

children

to

new

books

and

encouraging

them

to

read,

and

also

the

importance

of

libraries

giving

access

to

free

books.

Dapo Adeola
0:47

Author

visits

works.

100%

it

works.

Like

I

myself

did

not

understand

that

because

again,

only

seven

years

in

at

the

first

author

visit,

just

the

impact.

And

lookup

had

been

out

for

a

week

at

the

time.

Just

the

impact.

It

was

insane.

We

had

parents

coming

up

to

us,

parents

who

were

my

age,

and

they

were

like,

Where

were

you

guys

when

we

were

growing

up?

I

was

like,

I

was

in

school,

just

like

he

said.

They

were

like,

Oh

my

god,

I

wish

this

book

wasn't

around

when

I

was

growing

up.

I

had

somebody

message

me

that

this

morning,

you

know.

So

it's

just

a

huge

impact,

especially

when

it

comes

to

books

from

diverse

authors

and

illustrators.

How

many

times

do

we

get

a

Pakistani

author

visiting

talking

about

their

mythological

book

series?

We

don't

get

that.

That's

not

a

normal

thing.

It

will

go

a

long

way

towards

firing

that

curiosity

from

children

and

engaging

them

and

uh

encouraging

them

to

read

for

pleasure.

If

schools

were

funded

appropriately

so

they

could

afford

to

pay

us

to

come

in

properly,

that

would

go

a

long

way.

Also,

stop

closing

libraries,

stop

underfunding

them.

We're

talking

about

access.

Books

don't

have

to

be

bought

when

they

can

be

borrowed,

you

know,

and

they

can

be

borrowed

for

free

at

no

cost.

Like,

stop

closing

libraries.

Community

centers,

youth

clubs,

all

places

where

book

clubs

can

exist

as

well,

are

also

underfunded

and

closed.

Stop

doing

that.

Like,

just

stop

doing

that.

If

you

stop

doing

that

and

stop

taking

money

from

that,

you

wouldn't

have

to

create

initiatives

like

the

one

that

we're

seeing.

And

that's

not

to

bash

the

initiative.

I'm

here

for

it,

it's

a

great

thing.

However,

I

don't

understand

how

you

can

create

your

own

problem

and

then

come

up

with

an

initiative

to

solve

a

problem

that

didn't

need

to

exist

in

the

first

place.

It

just

is

a

lot

of

going

around

in

circles.

Katy
2:34

Author

Tom

Palmer

discusses

the

importance

of

book

gifting

schemes,

such

as

book

buzz

and

bookstart,

and

how

valuable

it

is

to

get

parents

and

grandparents

involved

in

their

children's

reading

and

the

role

that

libraries,

literary

festivals,

and

schools

have

creating

shared

opportunities

to

talk

to

different

age

groups.

Tom Palmer
2:50

I

think

giving

a

book

to

a

child

like

so

that

they

get

a

choice,

they

think

year

sevens

get

given

a

book,

book

buzz.

I

think

stuff

like

that's

really

good.

And

then

the

thing

to

do

with

Shore

Start

and

Reading,

where

like

families

got

a

book

that

was

age

appropriate

to

read

with

your

child,

and

there

was

notes

on

how

to

do

it.

Like

we

got

that

when

my

daughter

was

born.

A

lot

of

people

are

not

confident

around

books,

a

lot

of

adults

and

parents,

and

it

gave

you

advice

about

how

to

read

with

your

child,

and

those

sorts

of

interventions

were

amazing.

And

I

thought

that

was

really

effective

as

a

dad,

but

also

seeing

that

in

the

world

when

I

was

working

in

reader

development

around

that

period

before

it

got

published.

If

you

invest

that

money

into

those,

it

will

have

a

massive

impact

on

everything

in

what

books

do

for

us,

like

nationally,

economically,

family,

cohesion,

happiness,

all

the

things

that

get

quoted

about

what

books

can

do

for

you.

Those

things,

they're

like

the

foundation

stones

for

all

that

sort

of

stuff.

I

think

in

schools,

definitely

when

I

started

going

into

schools

20-ish

years

ago,

reading

for

pleasure

wasn't

on

the

agenda

and

it

is

now

part

of

the

curriculum.

And

I

think

that's

brilliant.

The

way

schools

read

whole

books

now,

children

love

it.

They

get

really

excited

telling

me

about

the

books

they're

reading

as

a

class

read.

Twenty

years

ago,

it

was

it

seemed

to

me

schools

were

reading

excerpts

from

books

and

they

were

analysing

the

text

to

death.

There

was

no

joy,

there

was

no

story,

there

was

no

cliffhanger

for

the

next

day.

I

think

there's

a

lot

of

really

good

stuff

as

well.

And

government

can

do

it

through

those

sorts

of

schemes,

and

I

think

it's

really

important

to

recognise

that.

And

they

can

support

organisations

like

the

Reading

Agency,

the

Book

Trust,

Literacy

Trust,

etc.

And

there's

so

many

people

out

there

like

us,

like

you

and

me

talking

now,

and

all

the

other

people

you've

interviewed

on

this

podcast.

There's

so

many

people

who

are

willing

to

do

it

as

part

of

their

job,

but

also

do

it

as

part

of

their

love

of

reading

and

wanting

to

encourage

children

to

read.

There's

so

many

others

out

there

that

can

keep

this

going

if

we

get

backed

up

with

things

like

school

librarians,

etc.

Another

reading

scheme,

which

was

similar

to

Bookstart,

was

a

really

good

one

that

I

was

involved

with

for

years

was

Premier

League

reading

stars.

And

it

was

amazing

in

that

it

was

funded

by

an

external

body,

the

Premier

League,

and

it's

changed

now,

it's

different

now.

But

in

its

first

five

to

ten

years,

it

was

about

setting

up

reading

groups

in

public

libraries

where

a

child

and

one

of

their

adults

would

come

to

the

reading

group

and

they'd

talk

about

reading

and

books

together.

And

it

was

as

much

aimed

at

the

adult

of

the

child

to

sort

of

model

how

to

get

your

child

into

reading.

And

it

was

quite

in

intensive.

You'd

have

10

child

adult

meetings

six

to

ten

times

over

a

period,

and

then

there'd

be

a

football

element

to

it.

And

it

was

it

was

doing

that

thing

that

if

you

are

not

confident

about

reading

with

your

child,

it

was

kind

of

modelling

the

things

you

could

do.

So

it

was

teaching

them

in

situ.

And

I

sometimes

I

get

invited

into

schools

and

they

have

an

evening

session,

they're

like

an

after

school

session,

where

I

go

in

and

do

a

talk

to

the

children,

but

the

adults

are

asked

to

come

along

as

well.

Um,

and

we

talk

about

like

reading

problems

and

how

to

encourage

a

child

to

read

and

modelling

good

ideas.

And

I

talk

about

my

mum

and

now

she

got

me

reading

football

magazines

and

football

newspapers,

and

so

that

those

sorts

of

things,

but

they're

so

expensive,

and

also

it's

getting

the

adults

in,

isn't

it?

I've

done

some

stuff

with

Cotton

and

Hay

Junior

School

in

Derbyshire,

and

like

every

now

and

then

we'll

get

a

couple

of

dozen

parents

or

more

in

with

to

come

in

with

the

children,

and

we'll

get

a

football-y

sort

of

person

in

and

we'll

talk

about

reading

together

and

how

adults

with

children

can

help

encourage

their

children

to

enjoy

reading.

And

th

there

are

schemes,

but

they're

really

expensive,

so

it's

money,

isn't

it?

It's

money

and

the

will

to

do

it.

There's

enough

people

out

there

who

want

to

do

it,

it's

just

giving

us

the

money

and

the

time

to

do

it,

isn't

it?

I

did

an

event

in

a

library

in

Cumbria,

and

we

had

about

10,

12

children

and

12,

15

adults.

And

it

was

aimed

at

the

children,

the

adults

were

just

there

to

watch.

But

we

as

much

aimed

it

as

at

the

adults

as

we

did

the

children.

And

so

libraries,

public

libraries

are

a

really

good

place

to

get

children

and

adults

in

together

to

model.

And

they

need

an

incentive,

not

just

come

to

see

some

author,

but

like

there's

bigger

incentives.

And

I

think

the

other

people

who

are

in

a

position,

when

I

get

in

an

audience,

when

I

get

to

see

children

with

their

parents,

it's

book

festivals.

So

book

festivals

are

the

other

place

where

you

have

a

mixed

audience

of

adults

and

children.

If

it's

a

public

event,

people

who

are

already

want

to

encourage

their

children

to

read

and

want

them

to

see

an

author

and

be

inspired

by

them.

Book

festivals

are

in

a

position

to

do

that

sort

of

work,

like

libraries

are,

and

perhaps

money

could

be

channelled

to

them

to

do

work

where

it's

not

about

ticket

sales,

but

it's

about

getting

a

hundred

kids

and

a

hundred

parents

or

grandparents

in

together

and

being

exposed

to

that

whole

passion

for

and

excitement

about

reading

together.

Because

that

they're

the

two

channels

where

I

talk

to

adults

and

children

together,

and

it's

wonderful,

it's

different

to

doing

a

school

event,

and

the

parents

really

get

into

it,

and

you

can

see

them

seeing

their

children's

excitement

at

meeting

authors.

Book

festivals

and

public

libraries

are

two

good

forums

for

that.

Katy
8:07

Author

Louie
Stowell

talks

about

examples

of

where

engagement

has

been

really

successful

and

the

importance

of

space

and

community,

starting

with

a

comic,

the

phoenix.

Louie Stowell
8:15

Well,

clearly

the

phoenix.

That's

a

really

interesting

one

because

it's

not

just

about

kids

loving

the

comic,

it's

also

a

community.

And

I

think

if

you

can

create

communities

around

reading,

that's

really

important.

I

know

Harper

Collins

did

a

study

recently

where

they

created

community

libraries

in

schools,

or

no,

like

places

where

the

kids

could

go

and

read

that

had

nice

soft

furnishings

and

the

kids

got

to

pick

the

books.

So

there's

that

sense

of

both

creating

spaces

for

reading

and

giving

kids

agency

about

what

they

read.

And

again,

with

the

Phoenix,

you've

got

so

many

different

strips

that

you

always

have

choice,

and

that

that

choice

is

really

powerful,

and

kids

being

allowed

to

be

part

of

the

choice

of

books,

I

think,

is

really

valuable.

Whether

it's

in

schools

or

whether

it's

parents

just

letting

their

kids

pick

what

they

want

to

read.

And

obviously,

as

libraries

close,

that

becomes

less

and

less

possible.

I

do

think

access

is

a

real

problem

and

book

deserts

and

just

not

having

that

selection

available.

And

I

don't

know

what

the

solution

to

that

is

because

obviously

that's

an

infrastructure

problem,

but

it

is

definitely

a

problem.

Katy
9:14

Louie

also

highlights

how

communities

of

readers

can

develop

online

and

the

importance

of

adults

modelling

reading

for

children

and

young

people.

Louie Stowell
9:21

I

think

what

works

about

TikTok

is

it's

a

fandom.

And

again,

it's

going

back

to

community.

And

how

do

you

create

fandoms

and

how

do

you

create

spaces

where

those

fandoms

can

happen?

And

that's

much

harder

with

children,

obviously,

because

they

shouldn't

be

on

the

wide

worldwide

internet

too

much.

But

if

there

are

created

spaces

online,

there's

no

space

without

problems,

but

some

sort

of

online

game

or

something.

Is

that

is

there

a

space

for

having

a

kind

of

book

corner

within

that?

But

also

I

think

it's

encouraging

adults

to

talk

about

books

because

there's

probably

people

who

are

reading

who

are

not

then

talking

about

it

with

their

kids.

And

how

do

you

get

that

conversation

going?

And

I

think

some

of

it

could

be

modelling

it.

And

I

mean,

one

of

the

kind

of

shocking

things

in

the

stats

was

how

little

parents

enjoy

reading

to

their

kids.

That

really

made

me

quite

sad.

And

I

think

if

there's

ways

of

kind

of

showing

that

in

media,

showing

modelling

sounds

very

dry,

but

I

mean

it's

literally

showing

someone

reading

a

book

to

a

child

and

showing

it

being

fun.

And

more,

you

know,

whatever

Jack

and

Ori,

that

kind

of

thing.

A

lot

of

people

aren't

watching

live

TV

anyway,

or

or

even

traditional

media,

and

it's

how

you

do

that

through

other

channels.

Katy
10:20

Jenny

Hawke,

chair

of

the

Youth

Libraries

Group

and

a

librarian

in

Bromley,

talks

about

what

libraries

offer

families

and

young

people.

She

also

emphasises

the

importance

of

collaboration

between

public

libraries

and

schools,

and

that

when

done

well,

it

leads

to

family

reading

and

everyone

using

the

library.

Jenny Hawke
10:36

In

the

public

library,

we

do

have

a

lot

of

children.

They

are

coming

in,

they're

coming

in

on

a

semi-regular

basis.

Sometimes

we

get

the

same

children

coming

in

every

week,

and

obviously,

we

have

chatterbooks

groups

as

well.

So

the

eight

to

eleven-year-olds

have

just

had

a

chatterbooks

group

today,

in

fact.

And

they

were

so

excited,

and

they

were

doing

this

quiz,

and

they

were

so

sort

of

competitive

and

really

wanted

to

get

the

answers.

We

had

all

the

books

all

over

the

table,

and

so

from

that

side

of

things,

I

can

see

that

they're

actually

like

really

into

reading.

Some

of

them

had

done

reviews

of

the

books

that

they

took

at

home

last

time,

last

month,

and

some

of

them

hadn't,

but

they

were

still

chatting

about

the

books

and

talking.

The

volume

does

get

like

really

loud

at

some

points.

But

then

obviously,

I

do

know

from

the

national

picture

and

the

National

Literacy

Trust's

latest

report

on

reading

for

pleasure,

and

that

there

has

been

a

decline.

And

I

suppose

our

role

in

the

public

libraries,

particularly,

because

that's

where

my

experience

is,

but

I'm

sure

also

in

the

school

library

is

just

to

try

and

reignite

some

of

that

passion

for

reading,

and

that's

what

we

try

and

do,

and

we

look

at

the

different

factors

like

their

access

to

books,

and

I

suppose

the

children

that

are

coming

into

the

library

are

coming

in

because

the

parents

are

bringing

them

into

the

library,

their

carers

are

bringing

them

into

the

library,

and

then

I

had

a

class

visit

coming

in.

Now

that's

slightly

different

because

the

school

is

bringing

them

in.

But

what's

really

lovely

is

we

definitely

noticed

that

link

with

the

school

and

public

libraries

is

so

important

because

you

know

that

is

where

we

are

reaching

those

children

that

might

not

actually

come

in

with

their

parents,

but

they're

coming

in

with

the

schools,

and

so

often

we

will

notice,

like

maybe

even

that

evening

or

at

the

weekend

on

a

Saturday,

if

they

have

had

a

session

in

the

library

with

a

member

of

staff,

then

they

will

come

back

with

their

parents,

which

is

really

lovely.

And

we

always

make

sure

they

get

the

colouring

letter

saying,

Oh,

we

went

to

the

library

today,

we

visited

the

library,

and

it's

very

easy

to

join

your

child

up

to

the

library.

So

that's

really

important

to

give

them

that,

to

give

them

a

bookmark

and

just

give

them

a

really

good

experience

in

the

library

so

that

they

they

will

come

back

again.

Saturday

mornings

are

really

peak

times

when

families

are

coming

in

and

we

have

this

sorter

where

all

the

books

are

getting

returned

through

the

self-service.

And

so

sometimes

I

take

a

photo

of

it

because

I

just

think,

wow,

you

know,

we

are

absolutely

run

off

our

feet,

but

this

is

amazing

that

all

these

kids

are

returning

all

these

books.

So

I

think

the

space

is

really

important,

and

I

think

that's

important

for

the

school

libraries

as

well,

for

a

place

to

go

and

for

there

to

be

somebody

there,

a

trained

person

who

can

chat

to

them

about

what

books

they

want

to

borrow.

And

it's

always

important

that

we

always

say

there's

always

members

of

staff

so

you

can

come

and

talk

to

them.

I

think

forging

links

between

public

libraries

and

schools

is

really

paramount.

And

we're

taking

the

authors

into

the

library

and

then

inviting

the

schools

to

come

into

the

library,

but

we're

also

doing

online

events

with

schools

and

with

our

authors.

In

our

particular

authority,

we're

quite

lucky

in

that

we

have

a

secondary

school

librarian

network.

So

we

get

invited

to

their

meetings,

and

we

always

make

sure

that

we

organise

something

for

them

every

term.

So

for

the

secondary

schools,

we

organize

a

fully

booked

quiz.

The

school

librarians

bring

about

seven

or

eight

year

sevens

or

year

eights,

and

we

have

about

eight

or

nine

secondary

schools

taking

part,

and

they

absolutely

love

it,

and

they

are

so

competitive.

Making

connections

and

working

collectively

with

other

organisations.

For

example,

we're

part

of

the

Spine

Festival,

so

normally

it's

an

annual

festival

where

16

boroughs

all

get

together,

it's

a

creative

arts

festival,

and

it's

organized

by

Apples

and

Snakes,

the

spoken

word

organization.

And

we

have

all

these

events

and

activities,

some

of

them

are

school,

some

of

them

are

public,

but

you

really

feel

part

of

something,

and

I

think

a

lot

of

those

events

have

definitely

had

an

impact,

and

there's

usually

always

some

sort

of

performance

at

the

end

where

the

parents

all

come.

And

I

remember

once

we

had

this

end

performance,

and

then

all

the

parents

joined

the

library,

the

siblings

joined

the

library.

So

I

think

definitely

working

collectively

with

other

organisations

really

helped.

And

sometimes

those

can

just

be

like

local

organisations,

like

a

local

arts

society

once

said,

right,

we've

got

some

money,

we

want

it

to

be

spent

on

a

creative

arts

project

for

the

library.

Can

you

help

us?

So

we

thought,

oh,

it

would

be

wonderful

to

have

a

mural

in

the

library,

and

then

we've

got

some

children

from

the

local

primary

school

from

years

five

and

six.

Loretta

Schauer

actually

came

and

she

helped

the

children

to

design

this

mural.

So

I

think

all

those

things,

however

local

or

regional

or

national,

because

we

always

try

in

the

public

libraries

to

promote

like

National

Nonfiction

November

and

National

Share

a

Story

Month

and

Book

Trust

initiatives

as

well.

So

I

think

working

collaboratively

is

key.

Katy
17:24

Finally,

we

hear

from

author

Sita

Brahmachari

advocating

a

movement

that

puts

reading

at

the

heart

of

every

childhood.

Sita Brahmachari
17:31

Leadership

is

absolutely

vital.

So

it

needs

to

come

from

the

top

of

every

school.

It

needs

to

take

all

of

these

agencies

in

connection

with

the

head

teachers

of

every

school

in

the

country,

either

through

some

kind

of

enormous

coming-togethers

of

people

in

theaters

or

whatever,

big

spaces.

It's

a

movement.

You

need

to

ignite

it.

So

we

need

to

make

reading

at

the

heart

of

every

childhood.

That

means

from

preschool,

as

Frank

Cultural

Voice

is

doing,

to

18

and

then

beyond

into

higher

education.

Reading

is

the

hearth

of

education.

It

is

the

place

around

which

everything

gathers.

To

explore

anything

within

school,

you

need

to

read.

And

you

cannot

go

forward.

You

cannot

thrive.

You

will

be

hungry

all

your

life.

Physically,

probably

as

well.

One

in

three

children

in

our

schools

is

hungry.

So

when

they

leave

school

and

their

literacy

rates

are

so

low,

they

probably

will

also

be

hungry

in

their

emotional

well-being

and

their

ability

to

imagine

different

futures

and

create

different

futures

for

themselves.

There

is,

in

my

opinion,

a

crisis

of

creativity

within

the

education

system.

And

that

crisis

of

creativity

is

stifling

our

young

people.

And

many

of

my

stories

have

been

made,

books

on

prescription,

by

reading

agencies

about

they

can

help

young

people

with

their

well-being.

And

I'm

very

proud

of

that.

My

dad

was

a

doctor,

he

would

have

thought

that

was

really

quite

strange.

But

actually,

he

wasn't

a

doctor

that

was

wanting

to

prescribe

people

lots

of

pills.

He

actually

was

someone

that

said,

Well,

maybe

if

you're

feeling

stressed,

walk

in

nature

a

little

bit.

So

I

think

we

need

to

refocus,

as

with

Shore

Start,

a

future

for

every

child,

the

well-being

of

every

child

to

thrive,

and

that

reading

is

absolutely

at

the

heart

of

it

all.

The

scale

that

we

need

needs

to

be

that

all

of

the

amazing

educators,

the

librarians,

all

of

the

amazing

people

in

the

book

agencies,

we

need

to

come

together

and

in

unity,

and

we

need

to

say,

right,

this

needs

to

change.

Which

means

that

it

goes

through

teacher

training,

which

means

if

I

want

to

be

a

teacher,

I

need

to

have

this

vision

of

stimulating

the

whole

of

the

creative

child,

making

sure

that

they

and

their

families,

their

guardians

have

the

opportunity

to

thrive.

I

mean,

I

call

it

reading

to

thrive.

It's

not

just

to

survive,

it's

not

just

to

pass

the

test,

it's

to

thrive.

And

as

you

go

through

life,

you're

going

to

face

difficulties,

you're

going

to

have

challenges.

Reading

has

been

my

absolute

anchor

and

my

absolute

sale

in

my

life.

And

writing

is

absolutely

connected

to

that.

I

think

that

also

the

stats

around

creative

writing

and

the

enjoyment

in

creative

writing

have

gone

down.

For

myself,

I

have

my

patchwork

storytelling

quilt.

And

when

I

go

and

speak

to

children

in

schools,

I

say,

okay,

we're

going

to

talk,

you're

going

to

doodle

listen

for

a

while.

Children

that

maybe

find

it

hard

to

kind

of

concentrate

for

large,

long

times.

They're

doodling,

they're

drawing

pictures

and

symbols

of

what

you're

talking

about,

little

memories

of

what

you've

said,

they're

writing

it

all

down,

and

they

have

a

patchwork

piece.

Why

can't

we

go

through

the

whole

of

a

school

day

collecting

inspirational

patchwork

pieces

and

writing

them

down

and

having

a

little

quilt

at

the

end

of

the

day

that

you

can

go

back

and

share

with

your

family?

This

is

not

like

a

bespoke

project

that

only

privileged

children

can

do.

I

work

in

all

schools,

but

I

think

it's

very,

very

interesting

that

fee-paying

schools

really

prioritize

the

humanities

and

the

arts.

So

that

you

will

go

to

schools

which

will

have

wonderful

theatres.

You

will

go

to

schools

that

think

art

is

an

really

important

part

of

the

school

day

for

the

children,

and

sports,

and

the

whole

child.

So

I

think

we

need

to

really

throw

up

in

the

air

what

we

have

been

doing.

The

world

has

changed,

our

worlds

have

changed,

and

we

need

to

step

up

altogether.

And

we

need

to

look

at

what

children

and

what

childhood

needs

now.

So

it's

a

very

hopeful

thing

is

that

we

now

have

a

policy

by

the

end

of

the

term.

Of

this

government

of

a

library

in

every

primary

school.

But

a

library

without,

with

the

pressures

of

things

still

carrying

on,

a

library

without

a

creative

approach

is

a

room

with

books

in

it.

So

how

do

we

bring

the

children

that

haven't

had

a

book

at

home,

which

is

many

children,

haven't

had

a

culture

in

their

families

of

reading?

How

do

we

get

those

children

to

make

that

library

the

hearth

of

their

education?

You

do

that

by

bringing

in

every

generation

to

activities,

to

creative

things

where

perhaps

adults

who

might

not

have

high

literary

race

themselves,

they

understand

that

they

belong

in

that

place.

You

know,

reading

is

a

place

of

belonging.

Reading

is

a

home.

And

you

see

this

sometimes

with

refugee

children,

and

what

they

bring

is

they

have

a

book

on

their

back.

They

bring

a

book

from

home.

Sometimes

that

can

be

the

place

where

they

have

a

home

when

they

don't

have

a

home

outside

it.

So

we

need

to

make

the

library

in

every

primary

school

a

hearth

and

a

home

to

the

community

so

that

it's

the

place,

not

just

the

children

who

might

be

ahead

with

reading,

or

maybe

the

children

who

need

to

find

a

place

of

harm

and

comfort

within

a

very

noisy

space.

Not

only

those

children,

but

every

child

needs

to

know

what

that

library

can

do

for

them.

But

if

those

libraries

don't

yet

have

librarians,

that

means

every

teacher

needs

to

be

demonstrating

and

using

that

library

at

the

core

of

their

work.

And

obviously,

I

do

believe

that

there

needs

to

be

a

librarian

in

every

primary

school

to

be

with

those

books

to

help

properly

expand

what

the

impact

on

creativity

in

education

can

be.

And

I

think

that

that

needs

to

go

across

the

board

into

secondary

school

too.

And

you

need

to

keep

injecting

new

inspirations.

We

need

to

be

looking

at

what

things

really

are

working

and

then

bringing

a

new

inspiration.

So

children

who

are

in

a

school

and

young

adults

in

a

secondary

school

can

feel

this

sort

of

kinetic

energy

behind

the

force

that

reading

has

in

their

lives.

And

it

doesn't

stop,

it

just

keeps

on

rolling.

So

that

when

you

enter

a

school,

preschool,

nursery,

you

feel

it.

And

by

the

time

you're

leaving

the

school,

you

feel

it.

It

doesn't

drop

off

in

year

eight

when

you're

too

busy

because

you're

doing

your

A-levels

or

GCSEs

or

whatever.

We

know

that

this

is

what

education

is,

we

know

that

this

is

what

a

lifelong

opportunity

is,

we

know

that

this

is

what

awe

and

wonder

is

and

imagination

is.

And

this

is

a

path

which

will

help

you

to

grow

in

empathy

through

your

life

and

to

discover

things

that

you

never

thought

you

would

discover.

Katy
24:54

So

lots

of

ideas

there

about

how

we

can

all

support

reading

for

pleasure.

Ali
24:58

Yeah,

it's

important,

and

particularly

in

the

national

year

of

reading,

to

think

about

the

role

that

everyone's

got

to

play

in

encouraging

reading

for

pleasure.

Katy
25:06

Yeah,

it's

all

too

easy

to

just

leave

it

to

schools

or

leave

it

to

parents.

But

I

think

what

all

of

our

interviewees

have

made

clear

is

that

actually

it

is

about

having

approaches

that

involve

everybody.

If

it's

in

school,

it's

not

just

in

English

lessons,

it's

not

just

the

library's

problem.

It's

something

that

everyone

should

be

involved

in.

And

the

importance

of

getting

parents

involved

and

the

importance

of

access

to

books

and

libraries.

So

in

the

next

episode,

we

have

asked

people

what

if

they

could

do

one

thing,

what

would

it

be?

Ali
25:36

And

we'd

love

to

hear

from

you.

We've

been

discussing

all

the

different

things

around

reading

for

pleasure

and

how

we've

got

to

this

place

where

we

need

a

national

year

of

reading

again.

So

we'd

love

to

hear

what

your

thoughts

are.

And

if

you

could

do

one

thing,

what

would

that

be?

Yo

Ali
25:51

u

can

email

us

at

info at mostlybooktalk.com

or

you

can

engage

with

us

on

the

socials

at

mostlybooktalk.

So

join

us

for

part

six

of

our

five-part

series.

Katy
26:02

Yes,

it's

a

good

thing

we're

not

doing

a

math

series.

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