Ranil Jayawardena is supporting a campaign run by charity The Reading Agency to encourage all primary school children to take part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge - the UK’s largest reading for pleasure promotion – and help libraries set a Guinness World RecordsTM title at the same time.
Research shows that reading for pleasure is vital for children’s life chances, and that children who use libraries are twice as likely to be above average readers. It builds confidence and independent reading, while preventing the dip in children’s literacy levels during the long break from school.
The Summer Reading Challenge is a unique partnership between The Reading Agency and public libraries across the UK and got 810,000 children reading in the summer holidays in 2014.
Every year there is a new theme and this year the Summer Reading Challenge has teamed up with Guinness World Records - the global authority in record-breaking achievements and publisher of the annual Guinness World Records™ book – to create Record Breakers. Children sign up at the library and receive a special poster. As they borrow and read library books over the summer, children collect stickers to complete their poster and discover fascinating facts about record breakers as they go.
Ranil said: 'I hope parents, grandparents and carers in North East Hampshire will take their children to the library over the summer to pledge their support for children’s reading and sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge. It’s free, inclusive and makes reading fun - a vital ingredient in building literacy. Last year, 26,768 children in Hampshire took part in the Challenge. I hope we can increase that number this year, making good use of our local libraries and helping set a world record at the same time.'
Sue Wilkinson, CEO of The Reading Agency said: 'At The Reading Agency we believe that everything changes when we read. The Summer Reading Challenge, developed and delivered in partnership with librarians across the UK, is a fantastic programme which makes reading fun and improves children’s reading range, motivation and confidence. Taking part can be the highlight of the summer for many families and helps them rediscover their local library, a free, inclusive space full of activities and opportunities.'