Bold black text reads "GO ALL IN." on a yellow background, with a large black arrow pointing downward next to the text—inviting you to read more and dive into bold, impactful reading.

If you’re into it – Read into it.

Harrow School Library ServiceAdvice, Reading

Sign up for the National Year of Reading programme for schools

What do the women’s football star Leah Wilkinson, body coach Joe Wicks and author Michael Morpurgo all have in common?  The answer is that they are all ambassadors for the National Year of Reading, a campaign of exciting events running throughout 2026, all designed with one key purpose – to address the nationwide decline in reading for pleasure by renewing a love of reading. 

In launching an ambitious programme on this scale, the Department for Education is responding to the evidence of a growing crisis, with levels of reading for pleasure now at their lowest level since 2005 and a more serious decline evident for young people.  According to the Book Trust, only one in three 8- to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time, and a mere 25% of boys in this age group said they enjoy reading compared to 39% of girls.  

The research reveals a worrying trend across all groups not to prioritise time for reading over other possible leisure activities.  Even though the benefits of reading are still widely understood, it seems that reading is being pushed aside and young people, in particular, perceive the solitary nature of reading as completely alien to the instant connections of social media and their online world of instant gratification.  

The aim of National Year of Reading campaign is to tackle these challenges by bringing everyone together from government and national reading organisations and celebrity ambassadors to schools, libraries and local reading champions, to call for everyone to make time to Go All In. Instead of asking young people to ‘find time to read’, the Go All In campaign will present reading not as a separate world but a way of being more deeply involved and informed about what fires their passions, making reading relevant and an enriching part of their lives.  

Schools and educational settings are essential to the success of the project, with a programme of events and training planned to encourage and support reading initiatives of all kinds and in all places, with the whole school community involved. Whatever their interests might be, the message is If you’re into it, Read into It and have fun exploring the wide range of ways to read, from the traditional printed book, magazines and graphic novels to e-readers and online blogs.   

Sign up here for inspiration and resources  https://literacytrust.org.uk/about-us/national-year-of-reading-2026/schools/ and contact your local SLS for support.

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