Read for Good, with funding from National Book Tokens, will give out 1,500 National Book Tokens to children in local schools. Read for Good wants to make reading accessible to all children who may not normally go into a bookshop or think about buying a new book.
This partnership gives children the opportunity to enter a bookshop with the knowledge that they can pick a book that they would like to read.
Nailsworth Primary, Sir William Romney, and Callowell Primary Schools are taking part in the scheme, and The Yellow-Lighted Book Shop is also part of the project: “As booksellers, we know the importance of reading. We also know that children love books – but there are systematic obstacles that can make reading a difficult habit to nurture.
“The National Book Tokens Project helps tackle all these, and we are delighted to be taking part in this pilot. We will be creating pop-up bookshops in schools, which will be giving time for students and staff to explore and discover a range of new titles – and everyone will have £10 to spend so they all get to take a new book home at the end of the day.
“The project gives us a chance to help schools create reading communities, with all the social and educational benefits which come from that.
“Simply giving books away is easy, but meaningless. This is an opportunity to put reading centre stage in schools, creating an energy and excitement around reading which has the potential to materially improve the lives of everyone involved.”
