Helen Hayes on bringing back libraries
As a child, I loved a visit to our local library. I loved the sense of anticipation and possibility, and I loved the books. The library helped to establish reading as a fun activity and books as a place to find out about people from all over the world and from different periods of history, to understand my own emotions and experiences, develop my views and values and expand my horizons.
Last year, the proportion of children reading in their free time sank to its lowest in 20 years, at fewer than one in three. This represents a generational shift in reading and it’s why earlier this year, the Education Select Committee, which I chair, decided to undertake an inquiry on reading for pleasure.
There is compelling evidence that reading for pleasure has enormous benefits. Reading improves academic attainment, mental health and wellbeing, development of empathy and much more. It acts as both a “mirror” and a “window”: reflecting children’s own experiences while also offering them the opportunity to learn about different cultures. The decline in reading for pleasure is therefore not simply an educational concern but has repercussions for the whole of society.
The decline is not evenly distributed and some children, especially boys, children in low-income families and children with additional needs including dyslexia, are far less likely to read for pleasure. Even when children enjoy reading, there is a sharp drop off when they become teenagers.
The rise in recreational screen use is undoubtedly a major factor, crowding out children’s time to read for pleasure and affecting their attention spans, but screens cannot take all the blame. We found that pressures such as the cost-of-living crisis and rising poverty, modern work patterns, lack of access to libraries and competing curriculum demands all play their part.
The committee is calling for reforms to reverse the decline in reading for pleasure and to ensure that children and young people from all backgrounds can enjoy books and the extraordinary benefits they bring.
We want the Government to commit to a National Reading Guarantee, ensuring every child has frequent, regular opportunities to enjoy books, stories and shared reading experiences from birth to 18 as part of everyday life.
Shared reading in the early years is of critical importance for building the foundations of reading for pleasure in later life, and the Government must therefore seek to ensure that early years practitioners are well trained and properly supported to make shared stories fun.
Parents and carers also play a key role in supporting children to read, especially through shared reading in the early years. We recommend that every child should be issued with a library card at birth, supported by good information for new parents and carers from Health Visitors on all that libraries can offer.
Adults who were read to by a parent or caregiver as children are 130% more likely to enjoy reading as adults and to read to their own children. We heard about a range of barriers and challenges faced by parents and carers in reading with their children, including time pressures, stresses associated with poverty, and lack of confidence in their own abilities. Best Start Family Hubs represent a crucial opportunity and we recommend that all Best Start Family Hubs embed reading for pleasure into their work by offering sessions and advice for parents and carers.
Schools have a vitally important role to play, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, currently, many schools struggle to deliver an overloaded curriculum which crowds out opportunities to share stories and foster a love of books.
The committee is particularly concerned about the secondary school English curriculum and reports that GCSE English Literature is turning children off reading – the opposite of what a literature qualification should be aiming to achieve. We believe further reform is urgently needed in this area.
School libraries are powerful equalisers that ensure every child, regardless of background, can engage with reading and realise their potential. It is striking that libraries are (quite rightly) statutory requirements in prisons, but not schools. We are calling on the Government to extend its pledge to fund a library in every primary school to include every secondary school and to place school libraries on a statutory footing.
Finally, we highlight the importance of public and community libraries in supporting children and families from all background to access books and we call on the Government to commit to restoring the funding for public libraries that has been lost since 2010.
Reading for pleasure offers huge benefits if we can reverse the decline. The Education Select Committee’s report makes recommendations which, if accepted, can help to ensure that we can.