Any efforts to reverse the drop in the number of children reading for pleasure should be applauded (David Walliams to help launch plans to boost child literacy, 19 August). However, we must not assume that all reading is good reading. Many children are reading books which are either too easy or too difficult for them. Therefore it is not surprising that many of them are put off reading for pleasure – with devastating effects on their wider academic success.
Technological innovations and scientific research make it easier to judge which books are suited to an individual child’s reading ability and we need to embrace these. Using reading technology to effectively assess and monitor progress in literacy is paramount if we are to ensure that every child in the classroom develops a love of reading.
Dirk Foch
Renaissance Learning, London • Interesting to see that education secretary Nicky Morgan wants to make Britain’s children “the most literate in Europe” by enrolling every eight-year-old in their local library. She seems to have failed to notice that George Osborne’s ill-conceived, politically motivated austerity scheme has forced councils to close libraries or severely reduce their hours, curtailing library access for people of all ages.
Alan Gibbons
Campaign for the Book, Liverpool
• Presumably Nicky Morgan is too young to remember the Book Start programme that local councils were involved with in the late 1990s. The Labour government brought in a programme working with local councils ensuring that all children at eight months became members of a local library. Their parents were given a book and a library membership at their local clinic. It was a very successful initiative. Many families had never been to a library and this introduced them to a whole new world.
Eight months is the time to introduce children to books not eight years. In fact, children benefit from being introduced to books from birth.
Cllr Jane Baugh
Shadow spokesperson, children and young people’s services, Trafford council
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