It is good to see the National Literacy Trust is promoting 2026 as the National Year of Reading. This is a major, UK-wide campaign designed to reverse the sharp decline in reading for pleasure and to rebuild a national culture of reading — for children, young people, and adults.
The National Year of Reading 2026 is a Department for Education initiative, delivered by the National Literacy Trust, with partners including:
- The Reading Agency
- BookTrust
- World Book Day
- Bookmark
- The Queen’s Reading Room
The core idea is to connect reading to people’s existing passions — like football, music, gaming, cooking, fashion, or fantasy — so reading feels relevant, enjoyable, and natural.
The campaign responds to worrying national data:
- Only 1 in 3 young people (8–18) now say they enjoy reading
- Just 25–26% of boys report enjoying reading for pleasure
- Daily reading has roughly halved over the past decade
The Year of Reading aims to:
- 📚 Reignite reading for pleasure
- 🧠 Improve literacy, wellbeing, and empathy
- 🏫 Support schools and early years settings
- 🏛️ Strengthen libraries and community reading
- 👨👩👧 Encourage family and shared reading
- 🧑🤝🧑 Recruit and mobilise volunteers and ambassadors
Instead of pushing traditional ideas of “proper reading,” the campaign promotes:
- Comics & graphic novels
- Magazines
- Audiobooks
- Blogs & digital reading
- Non-fiction linked to hobbies
- Multilingual and culturally relevant texts
The message: all reading counts.