“In an increasingly noisy, complicated world, reading is our quiet superpower.”
-Richard Osman (The Guardian, 2026)
Recent Australian data has shown that around a third of Australian children cannot read proficiently, and that 29% of teens are choosing not to read for pleasure at all (Australia Reads, 2025)…and in the UK, only 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy reading in their free time – and only 1 in 5 say they read something daily (National Literacy Trust, 2026).
In the UK, the Government and the National Literacy Trust have come together to help disrupt this trend by celebrating a National Year of Reading – and consequently, resources for promoting reading for pleasure have never been more up-to-date or abundant!
On this blog, we’ve brought together some current professional reading, advice and ideas, and resources, to help school library staff promote reading for pleasure in their school.
Evidence
It’s no secret that reading for pleasure is important – but how, and why? Evidence-based practice is important and these resources will give you the support to back your instincts with real data.
- A short overview of the UK data from the National Literacy Trust
- Findings from the 2025 report by the National Literacy Trust
- A report out of Singapore which recounts global statistics and trends, and suggested paths forward
- Results from an ongoing study (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study)
Tips
Many of these ideas will not be new to library professionals – but it’s always good to be refreshed and re-invigorated or reminded about great ideas to put into practice in your library.
- How to combat a reading slump
- Promoting reading for pleasure in school libraries (UK perspective)
- How to participate in the National Year of Reading
- Tips on reading for pleasure in the classroom
- Promoting reading for pleasure (NZ perspective)
- Six key points to bear in mind when promoting reading for pleasure
- What schools can do to promote reading and literacy
Resources
These resources give you plenty of activities and reading lists to help you augment your arsenal of tools to help promote reading for pleasure in your school.
- A list of 309 amazing resources from the National Literacy Trust (UK)
- Resources for specific sectors – see in particular Schools and Libraries – for the National Year of Reading
- Book lists for the National Year of Reading from Books for Topics
- Shared reading texts for modelling and explicit teaching
- Amazing articles and resources about all things reading in Australia
Feel free to add any other resources you’ve found valuable in the comments! Happy reading!