Mini Summer Reading Challenge for little ones

Recent research shows that only 1 in 3 children and young people now enjoy reading, a drop of 33% since 2005 (Clark, et al., 2024) and 1 in 4 children in the UK cannot read well by age 11. This damages children's life chances as reading for pleasure is the single biggest factor in children's achievement - outweighing both socio economic background and parent's educational achievement. 

Early years professionals and librarians understand that sharing a love of books, stories and reading starts at an early age. This is why Norfolk libraries work so hard to engage young families. One of the ways we do this is to invest in the Mini Challenge that runs alongside the Summer Reading Challenge each year.

The Summer Reading Challenge is a national program developed by The Reading Agency and delivered by public libraries aimed at primary school children. Every year, around 10,000 children join the challenge in Norfolk and the Mini Challenge means little ones don't miss out on all the fun. It supports their reading journey and the work that you do with them. We hope families will become active library members, discover the free family activities we offer and access books through their local library

Please work with us to promote this to your communities using this Mini Summer Reading Challenge flyer (PDF, 589 KB).  The more families we can reach and engage with your help, the bigger the impact on Norfolk children.

If you have any questions about the Mini Challenge, please contact libraries@norfolk.gov.uk