For the third year running, the government is to hand out free books to all children starting secondary school. Through the Booked Up scheme, all Year 7 children will be given a choice of one of 12 books, including Glenn Murphy's fact book How Loud Can You Burp? and the futuristic thriller Flood Child by Emily Diamond. Young people who are given books are encouraged to swap with their friends once they have finished with them.
Booktrust, which is running the scheme, says that as well as schools and parents, youth workers also have a role to play in encouraging reading among young people. Rosemary Clarke, director of book gifting programmes at the trust, says they have an advantage over teachers in that they are not tied to a curriculum. They have more scope to tailor reading activities to individual children and can promote reading through latest trends far more easily.
However, she warns that youth workers should remember that conversations about reading need to be two-way and they should be prepared to discuss their own reading tastes with young people.
Questions such as "what is your favourite book?" should be avoided, says Clarke, because they sound "school-based". Instead, youth workers should broaden out the concept of reading. What are young people's favourite magazines, websites or blogs? What makes a good read?
According to the National Literacy Trust, initiatives such as Booked Up are crucial to reversing a dramatic decline in the UK's literacy rate. Latest figures from a global study of literacy, carried out by the University of Hong Kong, show that in 2001 the UK had the third best literacy rate among developed countries. However, by 2006 the UK had fallen to 15th.
Sarah Osborne, the trust's national reading network manager, says that too often young people are put off reading because they perceive it as only focusing on fiction and classic literature. Instead, the trust recommends that young people should be encouraged to view reading more broadly, as something that includes novels, factual books, magazines, newspapers and websites.
Osborne also suggests finding out what interests young people and encouraging them to read more about that subject. Research by the trust has found that celebrity and sporting biographies are particularly appealing to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
She also recommends expanding reading beyond books. One recent project she knows of involved young people reading a novel about homelessness and then visiting a refuge. Consider other ways that reading can come alive.
