The Guardian View on the National Year of Reading 2026: Time to Start a Healthy Habit for Life
The National Year of Reading 2026 is being promoted as a timely initiative to address a reading crisis and encourage lifelong reading habits. Recent data from the National Literacy Trust indicate that only one in three children aged eight to 18 enjoy reading in their spare time, representing a 36% drop over the past 20 years. This decline is particularly marked among teenage boys and children from the poorest backgrounds.
Alarmingly, a quarter of pupils leaving primary school in England this year do so without adequate reading skills. About half of UK adults do not read regularly, and many parents do not engage in reading activities with their children due to barriers such as poverty, library closures caused by austerity measures, long working hours, and caregiving pressures.
As part of the 2026 initiative, 72,000 new books will be distributed to children identified as having the greatest need. The first Children’s Booker Prize will also be launched in 2026, with annual awards from 2027. Chaired by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and judged by young readers, the shortlisted and winning titles will be gifted to thousands of children. The Cultural Policy Unit has proposed issuing library cards automatically to all newborn babies to further support early literacy.
The editorial emphasizes the critical importance of the first 1,000 days of life for cognitive and emotional development through shared reading, a practice that cannot be replicated by screen time. Current societal trends such as early smartphone and social media use—25% of children aged 3–4 own smartphones and half of those under 13 are on social media—alongside high rates of child poverty and library closures, contribute to the ongoing decline in reading.
The article calls for concrete action and sufficient funding to support these initiatives, noting that free books and baby library cards alone will not suffice without engaged adults and well-resourced libraries. Rachel Reeves has pledged to ensure that every primary school has a library staffed with trained librarians and adequate support for children with special educational needs and disabilities as well as new parents.
