"Have you read....?"

Now the Observer is supporting a new campaign designed to encourage everyone - young and old - to gain the fullest possible enjoyment from reading.

This is National Year of Reading. Starting next week, the Observer will be carrying a monthly column featuring book reviews.

Jean Burke, assistant in charge of children's services for East Sussex county library service's east area, has been working for some months with local schools and adult organisations.

Have You Read....? will embrace all age groups.

From primary school children to senior citizens, book reviews will be written by all age groups for all age groups.

Jean has devoted her working life to the library service, particularly to opening the pages for children to the limitless world of literature and knowledge that books offer.

Sadly, not all children or adults make full use of what is available to them.

Jean says: "Sometimes parents say to me that they have trouble in getting their children to read.

"I say to them 'Do they see YOU reading...?'"

One of her abiding childhood memories is of coming home and finding her mother at the end of a busy day with her feet up and deeply immersed in a book.

Have You Read...? is designed to foster, just as her mother's example did, a life-long fascination.

National Year of Reading 2008 follows the success of the first national project in 1998.

The National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency have been appointed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to manage the year with a consortium of organisations committed to promoting reading.

A national challenge to schools, business, arts, sport and local services to join in the National Year of Reading is launched this month.

The National Literacy Trust and its partners hope that the year will capture the nation's imagination, raise awareness of the importance of reading, and inspire more people to talk about and take part in reading for pleasure.

Family involvement and engaging employers will also be a priority.

Last year saw the launch of early years Bookstart interventions and the introduction of a 4m national book gifting scheme for children between five and 11.

Some 10 is being made available under a boys' literacy project to 400 secondary schools where the gap between boys and girls' achievement is widest.

Membership of East Sussex Library Service is free to all residents. Local libraries contain a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction books and are a valuable resource for research of all kinds, from finding school homework answers to exploring local history.

The first monthly Have You Read...? column will be in your Observer next week.