Writing Lessons & Advice: UK's National Year of Reading
- Katie Johns
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Most new years usher in a blank slate for the cultural touchstones that will define it. Some definition comes into focus as the months progress but parts of the world are getting a head start by naming 2026 a National Year of Reading as of January 13th, 2026.
This endeavor is based in the United Kingdom but could be something worthwhile to embrace across the pond, if not around the world. As per The Guardian, the UK-government endeavor has been launched to address a “worrying decline” in pleasure reading among children and young people. As per some statistics from Pageticker, a digital reading diary and supporter of the endeavor, “In a world where children spend an average of six hours a day glued to screens...the quiet magic of books is being drowned out. The National Year of Reading 2026 is a critical moment to turn the tide...reading enjoyment is the biggest indicator of academic success - even more so than socio-economic class. And yet the number of children enjoying reading has been in rapid decline for the last few years. In 2025, almost 70% of children reported getting no enjoyment from reading, according to figures produced from the National Literacy Trust...”
The campaign, otherwise called Go All In, aims to support and encourage more reading for pleasure--in all formats even--by bringing together schools, families, libraries, businesses and cultural organizations, alongside a high-profile group of UK celebrity ambassadors. The initiative is also building on existing government measures, like a new mandatory reading test for all pupils in year 8 (UK’s equivalent to the start of middle school) as well as monetary investments to support reading in secondary schools (UK’s middle school and high school equivalent) and to make sure every primary school in England (UK’s equivalent to U.S. elementary school, give or take a few grades) has a library by the end of this parliament. National events and local activities are established, ongoing, or in the works as noted on their events page. More still, the initiative page offers insight and tips for how every relevant angle--early years to families to workplaces to professional sectors--can participate or get involved.
Stateside habits and endeavors
If you’re curious how the Yankees stack up with their pleasure reading-related facts and figures, the University of Florida and University College London has found that daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years. According to YouGov surveys, six in ten Americans or 59% say they read at least one book in 2025, which is in line with similar surveys from 2024 and 2023.
As far as my understanding goes, leadership and influence over U.S. education over the last twenty years at least have emphasized various directions toward how to teach reading, if not writing as well. Amid those changes, encouraging reading for enjoyment, at least from the academic setting, is all but sidelined. So fostering that value takes other routes, like by way of Book-It, Reading Rainbow, or other more localized reading initiatives. The dream is there but may not have quite the height and reach of the UK campaign. Maybe we should take notice and take notes to see how well this works!
Relationship between reading and writing
In an earlier lesson or two, I both touched on the relationship between reading and writing but also barely skimmed the surface of it. A lot of people say that good readers make good writers, but how, though? An expert points out that “when we understand how the brain processes literacy, we see that specific areas handle oral language processing while other regions manage written language forms. By engaging in both reading and writing, students move back and forth between these neural pathways, creating stronger connections.” In short, reading and writing are mental exercises that are especially effective when practiced together and frequently. Like how certain physical exercises can condition parts of the body, the mental exercises condition areas like comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking. In turn, as our mental faculties strengthen, ideally so do our abilities to communicate, grow, and even just productively function in society.
As to the love of reading, in addition to the book-learning aspect, the University of Florida also notes that reading can be “a means of supporting mental health, empathy, creativity and lifelong learning [and] reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life...When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.” And if nothing else, it helps keep a lot of writers active and/or in business too.
I hope this has offered more motivation towards fun, pleasurable reading habits! If you’re in the UK, I also hope you’ll “Go All In” with this large-scale ambition! If you’re elsewhere, I hope you can find the means to read for pleasure either on your own or with outlets available to you. More still, create or support them if you can!
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