Campaign Toolkit

National Year of Reading 2026

Welcome to the National Year of Reading! The campaign was announced last year as a government response to the reading crisis. We believe that school libraries are the antidote needed to support children and young people’s reading engagement, and that school librarians are well-placed to lead the charge for the National Year of Reading in their school communities.

Many of you will already be in the swing of planning and delivering your 2026 activities – this toolkit will give you additional ideas and inspiration.

We have included a range of ideas to suit different budgets and levels of experience from tried and tested approaches to things you may not have done before. We hope the toolkit will provide inspiration and encouragement to use the campaign as leverage for investment in the school library, new initiatives, or time and space for reading for pleasure. You could also share it as a springboard for conversations with your colleagues or Senior Leadership Team.

Please tell us about your National Year of Reading activities! The more you share with us the more we can demonstrate at a national level just how valuable and important school libraries are for reading communities across the country.

Use the campaign hashtags #GoAllIn2026 and #NationalYearofReading to share your stories on social media, as well as tagging @uksla on all channels to make sure we see your updates. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X or LinkedIn to see our announcements.