The Books Council for Wales and Welsh Government are marking a key milestone in school libraries. They have been working on the schools love reading book project to provide every child in a state school with their own book.
About 300,000 free books and 170,000 book tokens have been given out to children so far. Earlier this year, around 53,000 books were also donated to food banks and communities in the first part of the love-reading project.
The book councils of Wales’s goal is to promote reading for happiness and its benefit for mental health and well-being, working to ensure reading and access to books is recognized as an essential rather than just a luxury. Reading is critical, and it should not be looked at as a chore or something that has to be done but instead for enjoyment. After all, knowledge is power.
With the economic downturn, studies show that families are not buying very many children’s books as a result of more highly prioritized expenses. According to a study done by the Bookseller, one in five kids do not have a book of their own. .
Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, said: “This is a fantastic milestone to reach. It is vital that we do everything we can to help ignite a passion for reading. Books open the door to new skills, boost imagination and play an important role in a child’s development.”
“We want to make sure that children enjoy reading and continue to do so. The Schools Love reading campaign provides a great opportunity to spread the joy of reading.”
Bookish in Crickhowell is one of the stores involved in the program and issued a statement: “It’s been such a joy to be involved with the Schools Love Reading campaign, watching students pick their books and seeing them broaden their understanding of the world through reading. The scheme has provided so many children with the opportunity to make their first book purchase and allowed children who love to read but may not be able to access resources to acquire their own copies.”
For more information about the project, make sure to check out the website that I have linked below!
