Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge is an educational competition held annually in public libraries in the UK, organised by The Reading Agency. It first began in 1999 with the intention of encouraging primary school children to read books during the summer holidays. Participants are awarded stickers and medals based on the competition's theme per tier. Materials are available in large print with supplementary information in Braille.

In an Impact Research study for the Summer Reading Challenge, the Reading Agency found that the Challenge contributed to stemming the 'summer holiday dip' in children's reading achievement.

History
The challenge started in 1999 with Reading Safari.

In 2006, the Summer Reading Challenge Impact Research Report was published by an agency called Product Perceptions. It found that 60% of children participating found they read more as a result of the challenge.

How it works
The child first asks for registration at the library desk with their library card in their hand. They then receive the Summer Reading Challenge Sheet where they track their progress and add stickers to complete the challenge. They read two books at a time from the library, record them on their sheet then show the sheet to the librarian where they get two stickers to put on their sheet (one often being a scratch-n'-sniff). After they have collected all the stickers and read their six books, they receive a medal and a certificate.

Resources
In Wales, most items are available in bilingual Welsh-English versions.

In Scotland, the Summer Reading Challenge is sponsored by Tesco Bank.

The Summer Reading Challenge is also run outside of the UK, in Ireland and internationally through the British Council’s teaching and learning services.

An interactive website for children is available year-round, where they can create a profile, chat about books, and get help on what to read next via the digital Book Sorter. This Book Sorter functionality already offers over 300,000 peer to peer children’s book recommendations in child-friendly categories, added by children themselves, who have read these titles in a Summer Reading Challenge or other activity.

Opportunities
Libraries work closely with schools, and each year library staff promote the Challenge to schools in the summer term. Invitations are provided for children to take home to encourage families to take part.

For young people (aged 13 to 24) there is the opportunity to volunteer in libraries during the Summer Reading Challenge each year to support younger children taking part.

This volunteering provides a quality workplace experience for young people in libraries, inspires them to think about future careers and increases their employability as they gain useful life skills and confidence. 8,000 young people are expected to volunteer in the 2015 Summer Reading Challenge. Many go on to volunteer to support other library initiatives throughout the year.

Regional variations
Council library services have to opt in to the Summer Reading Challenge, purchasing materials from The Reading Agency.

However some authorities have traditionally run local alternatives, Croydon ran the Book Trail for many years, which was enjoyed by Stormzy in his childhood, who in 2016 remembered it as “You read a book, write a detailed review as proof you’ve read it and they give you a badge... That’s where my competitive nature came out. Give me the badges! I would sit in the library all day, not ’cos I loved reading, just because I needed those badges.” Croydon have since also joined the Summer Reading Challenge.

Similar initiatives run internationally, in the USA, services design these locally and are known as Summer Reading Programs.