Jane Hunt MP encourages every child to join local library and share a love of reading

Loughborough MP Jane Hunt is encouraging all primary school children to take part in The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge. The Challenge launched on Saturday 2nd July in Leicestershire.

Through taking part in the Challenge, with free packs from public libraries and through the digital platform, children will be able to join six fictional ‘Gadgeteers.’ The characters – brought to life by children’s writer and illustrator Julian Beresford – use their curiosity and wonder to understand the science behind a whole range of interests from fashion and technology to cooking and music.  

The Challenge and its innovation-themed book collection will show that imagination can unlock endless possibilities, and the library is where this starts. This list includes numerous options spanning picture books, early reader books and middle grade titles by leading authors and illustrators.

The Summer Reading Challenge reaches over 700,000 children across the UK each year and is delivered in partnership with public libraries. The Challenge continued to reach well over half a million children across the UK in 2021 as lockdowns eased, motivating children to keep reading during a difficult time. Families shared with The Reading Agency the ways that taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge helped their children to enjoy reading more, feel more confident about reading and ‘feel better’ during a tough period. Family use of libraries also increased amongst Challenge participants, with more than 130,000 children joining the library as new members.                                   

Commenting on the Challenge, Jane said:

“The Summer Reading Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for primary school children to read for pleasure over the summer holidays, building reading skills and confidence and helping to prevent the ‘dip’ in reading skills while they are out of school.

“By providing fun reading activities, the Challenge supports families and teachers by providing free-to-access recreation and learning resources – all created to keep children inspired to read.”

To join the challenge, visit any Leicestershire Library from now until 10th September. All children taking part are entitled to free admission to various historical attractions in Leicestershire by showing their Gadgeteers poster at the admission point (one child per full–paying adult).

Children can also participate in the Challenge online by signing up at: www.summerreadingchallenge.org.uk.   

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