Bringing the fun back to reading
We've given away free books, arranged school-children to meet their favourite authors and enticed thousands of youngsters into our libraries. The News Spread the Word campaign has had a massive impact on literacy across the area.
When Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared 2008 the National Year of Reading, we were happy to do our bit.
With partners Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council, we launched the campaign on March 31 last year to encourage children to read more and improve literacy skills.
With schemes like highlighting our young 'Star Readers' and interviewing celebrities about their favourite books, we reached key targets we set ourselves for the year.
More importantly, it has inspired children to pick up a book.
Lindy Elliott, head of Portsmouth libraries, which has seen a rise in the number of youngsters signing up in the past year, said: 'The Spread the Word campaign has put books, reading and libraries in the spotlight.
'It has had a fantastic effect on children and families across the city, raising the profile of libraries and presenting reading as a fun activity.
'Getting children reading and enjoying books from an early age really helps their learning and overall development. This campaign has been a terrific way to get that message across.'
Teacher Caroline Phillips said the campaign has had a school-wide impact. 'It's brought literacy back into the fore,' she said.
'People have different expectations of school but literacy is the core and all children got so much out of it.'
Grace Aston, seven, now wants to be a writer after author Sean Beech visited Hart Plain Infant School in Waterlooville, through one of our Spread the Word competitions.
Grace said: 'I enjoyed reading anyway but when Sean Beach came in I wanted to try and be an author because it looked like fun. I've written one story called My First Day in School and I'm writing another one about three children going to the cinema.'
Angela Hicken, Hampshire County Council's Year of Reading co-ordinator, said the focus on reading would carry on. 'To have that dedicated space to promote reading every week has been phenomenal.
'It's been such a fruitful partnership between Hampshire, Portsmouth and The News.
'And this will continue. We have lots of programmes that will ensure that for reading and literacy the future is bright.'
The News saysLast year we set ourselves three targets
to improve reading across Hampshire.
Here's how we fared...
TARGET 1
To have 3,000 more children
become library members
In 2007/08 there were 82,952 under 14 active library members in Hampshire and 11,215 in Portsmouth – i.e. children who have used their library cards to take out books in the past year. The aim was to have 500 more in Portsmouth and 2,500 more in Hampshire.
In the city the campaign has been a great success as there are currently 12,391 active library members under 14 – that's 1,176 more than the previous year.
Unfortunately Hampshire County Council is unable to provide the same figures. But more than 22,000 children aged under 14 have joined a Hampshire library since last April – significantly more than the 20,767 new joiners in 2007/08.
TARGET 2
To increase the number of children
taking part and completing the Summer
Reading Challenge by 10 per cent
The Summer Reading Challenge is for children to read six books from local libraries during the summer holidays from July to September. Stickers are given to chart a child's progress and medals, certificates and prizes are handed out to those who completed it over the summer of 2008.
The number of children who signed up to the scheme in Portsmouth increased by 15 per cent.
In Havant and Waterlooville there was a 14 per cent rise in the number finishing the challenge.
But the biggest impact was seen in Fareham and Gosport where the number taking part rose by 18.5 per cent and those finishing the challenge shot up by an incredible 28.7 per cent.
In total an incredible 23,113 children in Hampshire and Portsmouth signed up to the reading scheme – that's 1,140 more than 2007.
Of those, 15,342 children read six books to complete the challenge – 1,064 more than last year, just short of our overall target to get a 10 per cent increase across Hampshire as whole.
TARGET 3
To get 1,000 children to read our
campaign book, Shapeshifter: Finding
the Fox by Ali Sparkes
The aim was to get 1,000 children to read one book in the course of a year. Thanks to Oxford University Press we had 1,000 free copies of Shapeshifter: Finding the Fox to give away to readers.
Written by top local author Ali Sparkes, the book is the first in a five-part series about Dax Jones who turns into a fox and all his COLA (Children of Limitless Ability) friends.
But such was the interest that all 1,000 copies went within six months. What a year it's been!
So much has happened that a very long list would be needed to include everything. Here are some of the highlights of the Spread the Word campaign
>> Every week we had a page dedicated to literature with articles, word puzzles and filmed interviews for our website with actors, sport stars, and authors about their favourite books. Among them were multi-million selling authors Terry Pratchett and Kate Mosse, Fat Friends actress Gaynor Faye, pop duo Same Difference, Pompey footballer Richard Hughes, left, astronomer Patrick Moore and the man who played the Galactic Emperor from Star Wars, Ian McDiarmid.
>> Star Reader scheme – Every month we asked schools to nominate a pupil who showed great improvement or enthusiasm for reading. We then printed their names in the newspaper and some also received free tickets to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Southsea. In total the reading skills of 337 thrilled youngsters were recognised.
>> Rolling story – On March 31 we started a continuing story called The Discovery. Every week local school children wrote a new chapter in the adventures of twins Tom and Katie after they discovered a time capsule on Southsea beach. Hundreds of children contributed to the 52 chapters.
>> A competition was held for three lucky readers to meet multi-million selling author Terry Pratchett and get signed copies of his new book at Hayling Island Bookshop.
>> Literacy schemes were highlighted like reading weeks in schools, the Portsmouth Book Awards, National Join a Library Day and Extreme Reading – an online picture gallery of readers in unusual places.
>> A create a character competition gave the opportunity to two youngsters to have their characters brought to life in author Sean Beech's new book The Silver Fox, part of the Lord of the Moons trilogy. Their names and imaginative characters of the Snow Faerie Queen and her chief bodyguard will be made immortal when the book is published later this year.
>> Free copies are on offer from News offices and Portsmouth libraries of The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle and a graphic biography of Charles Darwin to mark special anniversaries of their births.
>> And finally our partner councils Hampshire and Portsmouth were named as the joint local authority of the month for June for the National Year of Reading. Details of the Spread the Word campaign were sent to libraries across the country as a good example of what can be done.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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