This inevitably caught my interest. It’s a Department of Education initiative to promote reading, by designating 2026 as the UK National Year of Reading. The glossy website is alive with flashing images of muscle cars, football stars, nightclubbing, and happy people doing all sorts of everyday things (I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with epilepsy). But what does it mean, and will there be any more funds available, bearing in mind the prolonged period of austerity we’ve been going through, and the poor state of our libraries?

The campaign website says that across all age groups people are reading less – at least, for pleasure (which I take to mean reading fiction, but I guess it could also include non-fiction, which people also read for pleasure). Actually, most people will spend quite a lot of their day looking at written language, on their phones, through text messaging and social media, but it’s no substitute for ‘proper’ reading (is it?)

The website talks about supporting public libraries. Initiatives seem to be centred around promoting the use of libraries through the National Year of Reading and other associated campaigns, helping libraries connect with their communities through promotional materials, and ideas such as getting local writers involved, or holding events. The campaign aims to encourage more people to become volunteers. I haven’t checked out all of the volunteering opportunities, but the emphasis seems to be on helping children learn to read. I feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of recruiting volunteers to do work that, in an ideal world, would be paid. But perhaps, if that’s unrealistic, and enough volunteers can be found, it makes sense.

The campaign has linked up with various reading and literacy charities, such as The National Literacy Trust and World Book Day, of which there are quite a few. Presumably the theory is that by getting charities with limited reach to work together, the results will exceed the sum of the parts.

The big names of the publishing industry don’t appear to be there. In fact, I can’t see any representation from the private, profit-making side of the industry. Presumably they will be involved at some stage, but it’s encouraging that they (and their money making instincts) have been kept at bay, at least for now.

This government has, I think, been far too timid in its ambitions, and it’s this that will probably be its downfall, quite possibly landing us with our own Trumpian dystopia after the next election. In my opinion, they should have raised taxes from the rich, who have seen their wealth rising rapidly for many decades now, and used the money to end the continuing austerity that’s crippling our society. They haven’t done that, but it is at least encouraging that they are working, at a small scale to try to improve society. And literacy is a critical component of that. Let’s hope this new initiative will bring results.