Building a community of readers increases the pleasure and benefits of reading by facilitating a shared experience both in adults and children.
Read Books is Public Libraries Victoria’s website for statewide reading challenges. The easy to access digital platform is the home to both our adult reading challenge – Warm Winter Read, and to our Big Summer Read, designed to engage children in reading for pleasure. It is a one-stop-shop that meets the unique needs of delivering statewide reading challenges for all ages. It facilitates interactivity between participants, supports centralised and streamlined reporting for library services and effectively caters to the diverse needs of the communities we serve.
The website is managed by PLV and developed in collaboration with State Library of Queensland (SLQ). It allows participants to track their reading, take part in literacy-based activities, write book reviews and collect digital badges for incentives.
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Join a PLV Reading Challenge this year!
Warm Winter Read
1 June – 31 August
Reading is vital to a healthier, happier, more connected nation. The significant benefits of reading for pleasure include reducing depression, loneliness and dementia, and increasing empathy, self-esteem and awareness of other cultures.
Public Libraries Victoria’s (PLV) Warm Winter Read campaign encourages adult readers to develop a daily habit of reading for pleasure, whilst raising awareness of the benefits of reading for wellbeing and highlighting the resources available through public libraries to support reading.
BIG Summer Read
1 December – 31 January
Research has identified a phenomenon known as the ‘summer slide’, which refers to the loss of literacy skills over the summer holidays when children do not read—estimated on average as the equivalent of two to three months of reading proficiency. Loss of reading proficiency is most acute in children from economically disadvantaged communities.
Public libraries are in a unique and advantageous position to address the summer slide. Studies have found that children who receive and read free books over summer experience the equivalent of attending three years of summer school, with the most economically disadvantaged children gaining the most from such initiatives.
A Victorian approach to the summer reading club/challenges typically offered by public libraries raises awareness of the benefits of reading over summer and ensures all Victorians have access to resources that have been proven to slow the slide. It also helps position our libraries as vital community resources in early childhood development, helping to foster a lifelong love of reading and learning.