By Dr Anish Harrison and Professor Alpesh Maisuria
In November 2025, we submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee inquiry into “Reading for Pleasure”. The inquiry comes at a critical time with national data showing that children’s enjoyment of reading is now at its lowest level since records began in 2005 (NLT, 2025).
The Committee’s review sits alongside the Government’s announcement of 2026 as the National Year of Reading, led by the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust. Framed as a chance to “kickstart a reading revolution”, the initiative recognises that reading for pleasure matters, not only for attainment, but for wellbeing, confidence and personal satisfaction. However, unless we listen to the experiences of children and families who are least engaged in reading, these ambitions risk falling short of being realised.
From thesis to Select Committee evidence
Our submission draws on doctoral research by Dr Anish Harrison, Voices at the margins: An exploration of the perceptions of ‘vulnerable’ children, their families’ and library professionals regarding reading for pleasure and public libraries. This was Anish’s EdD submission, taking a case-study approach and framed from a critical ecological perspective.
The research explores how children and families from different demographics, including Children Looked After, children from diverse backgrounds and those in areas of high deprivation experience reading for pleasure. It also examines the role of public libraries within this context, critically exploring its socio-historical formation and current situation that includes being a critical mechanism for reading to take place.
The study worked with children, parents and library professionals, including early years children, primary-aged readers, and young people in care. The data generated clearly highlighted that reading for pleasure is not an individualised, uniform, and silent activity. It is social, playful, emotional and deeply shaped by environment and opportunities.
One child put it simply:
“I like reading… I just want a book that I like, like comics and that … not boring old smelly books.”
Their words challenge narrow ideas of what counts as reading, and whose preferences are valued.
Real world reading for pleasure
Across the research, children described enjoyment when they had choice and agency, but in the context of several factors: choosing and having access to a range of materials, reading with others, having inviting spaces to read and engaging with texts that reflected their interests and identities. Reading often happened alongside play, including Lego world-building, role play, and digital media.
The research found that public libraries played a crucial role in making this possible. For many families, they provided a free, welcoming “third space” beyond home and school, where reading was not assessed, timed, or in any way pressured – simply joyful. Libraries enabled shared reading, supported parents who lacked confidence, and gave children access to a wider range of books and formats than were available at home.
An ecological model was created through the data, which reflected children’s reading for pleasure needs:
However, significant barriers were also identified. Parents spoke about time-poverty, long-working hours, and uncertainty about how to support reading. Some assumed reading was ‘something [that the] school does’ but at the same time, participants noted that school practices undermined enjoyment. For older children, reading was associated with pressure rather than pleasure.
Importantly, structural inequalities were present in what was seen as ‘legitimate reading’. These barriers prohibited the growth of children’s identity as readers, creating significant barriers to enjoying reading for pleasure.
Libraries under pressure
At the same time as reading for pleasure declining, public libraries have faced sustained budgetary cuts. Reduced opening hours, loss of professional staff, and fewer children’s activities have made access increasingly uneven. Library staff told us of high demand for story times and reading-related events, but diminishing capacity to deliver them.
Despite this, public libraries remain places of belonging. When these spaces were informal, well-designed and social, families felt welcome and reading for pleasure flourished. Conversely, where they were large, formal, or understaffed, some participants in the study felt excluded by the coldness.
Why reading for pleasure matters now
The evidence is clear: reading for pleasure supports who children grow as human beings. In the research, it created joy, connection, self-understanding, meaning-making, and confidence in lives shaped by scarcity and pressure. The opportunity to submit to the Education Select Committee was timely and ensured the thesis could have the potential for real-world impact.
Our evidence-informed submission to the Select Committee makes five key recommendations:
- sustained investment in public libraries;
- recognising libraries as strategic partners in literacy policy;
- actively promoting library services during the National Year of Reading;
- adopting minimum service standards; and
- broadening definitions of reading for pleasure to reflect children’s reading realities.
If the National Year of Reading is to succeed, it must start by listening to voices at the margins. Public libraries are not a nostalgic extra, they are essential infrastructures for equity, enjoyment, and flourishing.
