Reading for pleasure is a vital life skill that has to be nurtured. Unfortunately, as with many things in life, not every child has an equal opportunity in this area. Some children come from homes where they are taken to the library on a regular basis, are frequently read to and encouraged to enjoy books, have lots of books within the home, see their parents/siblings/significant people in their life reading. All these things are great ingredients to instil a love of reading in a child. However, there are some children who come from homes where they are never taken to the library, are never read to or encouraged to enjoy books, have no books at home and never witness anyone in their home life reading. Then, of course, there are the children who fall somewhere in between.
So, in order to bridge that gap of inequality, it’s important that children have access to a wonderful selection of inclusive books in the one place that (the majority of) children spend a number of hours in on a daily basis – school. Unfortunately the number of schools with brilliant, modern libraries with a wide selection of books appear to be few and far between. It’s not that schools don’t recognise the value in books, of course they do, but – as with many things – it is down to budget, space and time.
However, the organisation, Children’s Books Ireland, have set up a new campaign calling for a #ReadingRevolution in the Irish education system. What Children’s Books Ireland wants to achieve through this campaign is for the next government to commit to funding school libraries on a permanent and sustainable basis.
There’s only 10 days to go until the general election but it’s important that this issue is highlighted as reading makes such a difference to a child’s life and in turn to society in general – if everyone read for pleasure, the world would be a very different place.
You can find out more information on the Children’s Books Ireland website, where they set out their campaign in more detail and also have a number of suggested questions with regards to their campaign, that you can ask local election candidates in the run up to the general election.
ALL children deserve an equal right to enjoy books and reading.
