It takes a village to raise literacy

We get approached very often by schools who wish to partner with us in promoting literacy and celebrating books and reading. By far the most popular services are around matching authors visiting our area to go into schools as part of a school author visit.

But demand from schools always outweighs our ability to match an author to a school at an appropriate time. And we only have a limited capacity to go out to schools and keep the shop running as well.

So over the Christmas break we got thinking. After all, the ReadOnGetOn initiative urges everyone to get involved in raising literacy, and we feel very passionately that independent bookshops - with their community connections and route to discovering new authors and ideas - have a small but critical part of the jigsaw to reverse the decline in literacy in the UK.

Can we work together better with schools, teachers, parents, librarians and authors to do our part in fostering a love of reading? And can we do it in a way that allows us stay in business on the High Street?

We're not sure, but we suspect the answer is yes. So we've put up a page on the website with a few ideas, starting with the fabulous WOBOD, the World Book Day Award in which your school could win a library-changing sum of money to spend on books...go take a look.

You see, if old Victor was around today, perhaps the thing that he would find so astounding is the speed at which ideas can propagate around the world: a well-timed blog, a couple of hundred retweets, perhaps the odd pic on Instagram to add a visual stimulus. Remarkable. But the basic mechanism he would recognise: using words to neatly formulate an idea, and have that idea race off into the world and start transforming it.

That's the essence of literacy: the use of words. Reading them, writing them, understanding them. Stringing them together to write a story, or make a speech. Or to ask for a payrise, tell a good joke to your mates down the pub, talk through the loss of a loved on, decide on who to vote for. And whilst a picture might be worth a thousand words, a picture with a few words on it is even more powerful.

And a thousand words is as good as a picture. Which means words trump imagery because they take us to places we can't go, like the past and the future. The pen is mightier than the sword and the camera, neat huh?

But words still need time to percolate in the brain. Time and space need to be created away from the overwhelming buzz and chatter of the modern world to allow those words to soak in, top up the reservoirs and be marshaled in the brain for use in the wider world. That's why we're championing family reading.

It takes a village to raise a child. And we reckon it takes a 'village mentality' to raise literacy. We hope you can take part in this, and the first step might be into your local independent bookshop?

Become a fan of family reading

We’re hoping we can persuade you to start a new family tradition – we want you to start a family reading group.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of reading.

There are plenty of studies and research into this. There’s all the obvious stuff, stuff you probably know (although it is worth reminding yourself occasionally). Reading improves concentration, vocabulary and comprehension. 

But there is a growing body of evidence that shows that children who read for pleasure do better in just about every area of human activity. Interestingly, all these studies show it's the reading of fiction that seems to open doors into wider experiences.

There is now compelling evidence that links reading with creativity. And creativity seems to be the key skill in responding to a rapidly changing world.

Reading can quieten the noise of a 24/7 twittering world clamouring for attention and creates a space in which to explore, consider and think. It teaches us to be happier within ourselves. 

Yet reading is on the decline. Literacy is significantly in decline for both adults and children.

Like any skill, it is more difficult to start it again if you don’t commit to doing it regularly.

Reading is a skill like anything else. Want to be better at football? Train more, get fitter. Want to be better at reading? Read more, get better.

So many people come into our shop and tell us how they would really like their children to read more (mostly because they recognise how good it is for them – but hopefully, also, because it is FUN).

But do your children ever see you read?

Admit it, you tend to read just before going to bed. Or from an electronic gadget. When do they ever see you obviously taking time during the day, when you are not tired, to put aside everything else to enjoy a book? 

Children (particularly boys) can hit an age when they look at their parents and think ‘this isn’t something my Mum or Dad do for fun, it’s babyish’. And as levels of schoolwork increase, and life gets ever more complex, reading for pleasure seems like a luxury.

So here’s our idea: start a family reading group. It’s simple, compelling and we think you’re going to really enjoy it.

How to start a family reading group.

“The path of a reader is not a runway but more a hack through a forest, with individual twists and turns, entanglements and moments of surprise.” – June Holden

And it always helps not to do it alone!