South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 08/09/2014

Today, Yate Library announces their support of Good Morning Britain’s ‘Just Read’ campaign, to encourage parents and carers to spend ten minutes reading with their children every day. The campaign will see the library giving away 50 copies of bestselling book Diary of a Wimpy Kid to local children on Saturday 13 September.

Yate Library is one of 200 libraries across the UK taking part in the ‘Just Read’ giveaway which is supported by national charity The Reading Agency and children’s publisher Puffin. The campaign comes as a coalition of leading charities, teachers, parents and businesses have come together to form a coalition called ‘Read On. Get On.’ The coalition has launched a national mission to support parents and teachers to get all 11 year olds reading well by 2025. Read On. Get On has published a report that reveals hundreds of thousands of children are leaving school without adequate reading skills and that one in seven 8 – 11 olds do not own a book of their own at home.

The giveaway will highlight how vital libraries are for the nation’s literacy and that books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid can really help children on their reading journey. Millions of children are readers because of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Jeff Kinney’s work is perfect for turning reluctant readers on to books. With 50% words and 50% cartoons, the books are 100% hilarious and children agree – Diary of a Wimpy Kid:Hard Luck was voted by children as ‘Favourite Book’ in the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

Later on in the week, Good Morning Britain will aim to set a Guinness World Record for the most number of parents reading with their children in the same place, at the same time.

As well as the giveaway, children who visit the library on 13^th September will be able to enjoy quizzes, puzzles, games and competitions. Just Read’ looks to highlight how parents and carers can promote the simple but invaluable activity of reading to youngsters.

Librarian Neil Weston from Yate Library said: “Come to the library dressed as Greg Heffley (the Wimpey Kid) or in something orange and join in this fun filled finale to this summer’s activities at Yate Library.”

This exciting campaign follows a wonderful summer of reading at Yate Library as thousands of children took part in the Summer Reading Challenge. This unique partnership between The Reading Agency and public libraries across the UK, saw MPs, libraries, schools and a host of well-known children’s authors including Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo, encourage children aged 4-11 to join the library and read for pleasure during the summer holidays. As The Reading Agency says: everything changes when we read.