Chichester charity tackles steep decline in teenage reading

Chichester-based charity Children’s BookFest is determined to do something about it.

The charity, which brings authors, poets and illustrators into local schools to inspire a love of reading, has launched BookFest YA, a new programme aimed at 11-17 year-olds, an initiative which extends into secondary education to support young people at a critical stage in their reading journey.

Led by author, teacher and facilitator Nicola Garrard, BookFest YA marks a significant new chapter for the charity following its most successful year so far, last year.

Recent research from the National Literacy Trust highlights the scale of the challenge. Reading for pleasure among 11-18 year-olds has fallen to its lowest level in two decades, with only around one in three young people engaging in reading in their free time.

The drop is particularly stark during early adolescence, with enjoyment falling from nearly half of children aged eight-11 to less than a third among 11-14 year olds. Among teenage boys aged 14-16, as few as one in ten now read daily.

BookFest YA aims to respond to a national challenge with local action, with a series of opportunities designed to engage young people across the district, including those in school and those educated at home.

Part funded by Chichester City Council, BookFest YA will offer a series of free, high-quality literary and creative events for secondary schools across the district in June and July, designed to engage students in Key Stage 3 with reading and writing.

The programme introduces a new creative writing competition, now open to young people across the district, giving them the chance to explore their own voice and storytelling potential by imagining the opening chapter of a novel.

Alongside this, a creative writing and publishing masterclass led by Nicola will offer practical insight into YA fiction, writing craft and pathways into the publishing industry.

A new Student Librarians Conference, hosted at the University of Chichester, will bring together young people with school, county and university librarians to share ideas and explore how reading culture can be shaped and led by students themselves.

The programme will also include author visits in secondary schools, alongside targeted outreach across West Sussex, ensuring the initiative is inclusive, accessible and reflective of the diverse ways young people engage with stories today.

Nicola said: “The thrust of what we are doing around Chichester is trying to ignite reading as part of the National Year of Reading and to get enthusiasm back for young people and to give them the chance to meet really exciting authors. Chichester High School has developed a whole new YA a library for the first time, and all of that is happening because of

BookFest.”

The decline in reading is clear: “It's pretty tough. I noticed it in my own son when he got a mobile phone. He went from being an avid reader to not reading. As soon as you get social media and as soon as the internet is opened up, young people are less interested in reading books and so reading plummets.

“And yet reading is wonderful. It's immersive but it really does drop off around 12 to 13. I think it always has done but I think that drop-off in adolescence has been heightened by mobile phones now.”

Phones of course give a connectivity with friends which can be very positive: “But it can be damaging as well because young people are not getting a break from each other and it can be negative. It can facilitate bullying. But at the same time having a phone can give you access to audiobooks and ebooks which is obviously a great thing.”

The hope is to reverse the decline: “In terms of creative writing we are seeing glimmers of hope. Young people are engaging with writing privately. They might be writing their own stories or raps or poetry but they are doing it.

“And sometimes I think when you talk about reading for pleasure, it is a misnomer. It can be about identity. Reading can be about finding out who you are and finding your tribe and finding representation. It can also be about reading for the future. They might read titles to find out how to deal with issues that they know will come up in their lives.”

The initiative will be assessing all that and also assessing its own impact particularly during the month of June, the key month for the project and a month timed specifically to coincide with the Festival of Chichester.

Young people, parents, carers and schools can find out more and take part in BookFest YA by visiting: https://www.childrensbookfest.com/bookfest-ya