Dr James Davies MP is encouraging all primary school children in the Vale of Clwyd to take part in The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge which launched in Denbighshire on Saturday (July 9th).
Denbighshire County Council is once again running the Summer Reading Challenge in all its libraries.
This year’s theme is Teclynwyr / Gadgeteers, a STEAM theme encouraging children to use their creativity and innovation. Children join the challenge and visit their library to borrow and return books at least three times during the summer holiday.
Denbighshire Libraries have been deeply involved in the development and delivery of the Summer Reading Challenge for over 20 years. It is their key activity to encourage children to read for pleasure and to visit their library regularly, instilling a lifelong love of reading and libraries.
Participation levels are usually high – almost 3,000 children took part in the 2019 challenge – 27% of the 4-12 year old population – the highest reach in Wales and double the Welsh average.
For the last couple of years the challenge has been impacted by Covid, although Denbighshire did still manage to deliver a more limited challenge digitally and in person.
This year they are hoping to see a return to the participation level of pre-Covid years.
James, who will be visiting a library in Denbighshire to engage with children taking part in the challenge, said:
"We all know that many children have struggled with their reading during the pandemic, so ensuring that children keep up their reading this summer is more important than ever.
"That’s why the Summer Reading Challenge is such a great initiative – it encourages children to read, while keeping it fun. With exclusive incentives to collect and plenty of brilliant books to enjoy, the Challenge is the perfect summer activity to build young readers’ skills and confidence during the long break from school.
"The Challenge is available in libraries throughout Denbighshire. Children can also take part online through the official digital platform, summerreadingchallenge.org.uk."
Families have 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.
For more information, visit www.summerreadingchallenge.org.uk
ENDS
