At their meeting last week, Sefton councillors voted to support the National Year of Reading 2026, a UK-wide campaign designed to help more people rediscover the joy of reading.

Led by the National Literacy Trust and supported by the Government’s Department for Education, National Year of Reading 2026 is a nation-wide initiative designed to reverse the long-term decline in reading for pleasure.

Reading is key

Cllr Diane Roscoe Sefton Council’s Cabinet member for Children Schools and Families said: “Of course, reading is key to the skills all young people are taught in Sefton’s schools and colleges and is vital to the qualifications they need.

“Sadly however, the numbers of us reading for enjoyment as we get older has been reducing, which is a shame because it can provide such inspiration and enjoyment, as well as comfort and escape when things aren’t going so well.

“We will be supporting the National Year of Reading 2026 by championing the act of reading for pleasure, by continuing to increase access to reading resources and by encouraging membership and use of Sefton’s libraries.”

You can find out about Sefton's libraries and what's going on at them, here. 

Decline

Research shows that only 53% of UK adults read regularly for pleasure and that only 1 in 3 children and young people say they enjoy reading, The decline is sharpest among boys, teenagers, and low-income families.

In an effort to tackle this, Sefton’s Family Hubs actively promote and support early reading and literacy through various initiatives and programmes. This is part of their broader early help services for children aged 0-19 and their families.

Reading to bump

And the Council’s Early Years service works closely with Liverpool Learning Partnership to deliver sessions on the benefits of reading from the earliest stage possible. Particular focus is on reading to bump, which is proven to support bonding, attachment and brain development in the uterus, giving children the best start in life.

Over the 2025 school summer holidays approaching 3,100 young people signed up with Sefton Libraries for the Summer Reading Challenge with over 2,200 successful completing it. This meant reading six books or more and visiting the library four times over the summer holidays.

Summer Reading Challenge success

Cllr Liz Dowd, Sefton Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for Libraries, who seconded the Notice of Motion said: “Every year Sefton is in the top three areas in the North West in terms of numbers of young people taking part in the national Summer Reading Challenge, which can only help to give young people the experience of reading for pleasure.

“Last year’s record sign up for the Challenge in Sefton was a massive 19% increase on the previous highest number taking part and a 63% increase in those who completed it, and I hope we can build on that during this National Year of Reading 2026.

“And at the end of October, coinciding with half-term week, we have Books Alive in Southport as part of this year’s season of events. Books alive will be as if a book festival was designed by a child and will be a great celebration of books, stories and reading.”

Details of Books Alive the programme will be released in June.

You can find out more about the National Year of Reading 2026 here.