A call to action

Creating a nation of readers

Literacy in New Zealand is a football we love to kick about.

We know some of the stats paint a problem with literacy levels, and there is no denying that fewer young people are reading for pleasure in New Zealand … but is it really something we are powerless to do something about?

We read articles, we quote facts, we lament the onslaught of screens in our young people’s world, we cry, ‘They are missing out on so much — what possibly can be done!!??’, followed quickly and predictably by, ‘Who is going to do something, and why aren’t they?! WON’T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?’

Well, actually, many of us already are, and here's one answer to the problem — and it’s got two parts.

Part 1: You and me

My name is Alan Dingley, and as the new Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador, my job is to think of the children.

The job description has many parts, but this is the summation,

… inspire, empower and mobilise powerful, positive reading experiences for children, young people, whānau, and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.

How exciting is that?

Be warned, I make no apologies for the enthusiasm and joy I am going to bring to this role. I believe reading is an essential activity for tamariki as it builds their imagination, their ‘empathy engine’, their connections to other people, the world around them, and to people JUST LIKE THEM!

I want to create a nation of readers, getting them hooked, finding the right product … oh yes.

So, I have a confession to make … I am a book dealer. I am trying to get kids fixated, bewitched, and enraptured by horrible truths and beautiful lies.

Adults worry about many things kids may be seemingly dependent on, be it gaming consoles, the internet, social media or whatever.

But, could we actually inspire them to connect to reading?

Connecting tamariki and rangatahi to reading

Do you read in front of them? When did you stop?

Do they have a library card?

I am a parent and know it’s hard.

I’m more than happy to help. See I’m a dealer of stories, a dealer of different worlds, a peddler in equal measure, dreams and thrills. I will hook them in, and will unashamedly strive to deliver product that will keep them coming back for more.

I want them to think about it first thing in the morning and last thing before they go to bed.

I’m a librarian, and I deal in books.

Of course, we must be honest about what we are up against, don’t we?

Make reading a national activity

We just aren’t seen as a nation of readers

Us readers know that isn't true, but at a casual glance, our priorities are elsewhere.

Aotearoa New Zealand has long had an outdoors/sport-focused narrative, where a lot of our heroes are known for climbing mountains, taming the rugged bush or ‘taking it up the guts’, fending off slack Wallaby tacklers by the dozens.

In the past, the Queen's Honours were traditionally a parade of politicians and sportspeople.

I love my sport, don’t get me wrong. I love that about us Kiwis — we punch well above our population. But, it also saddens me in many ways because it has taken so long for the sheer awesomeness of our authors and illustrators to get some of that adulation we shower on our sportspeople or politicians.

I would love our libraries to become as popular as our rugby sidelines, our bookstores visited as regularly as sports shops, our children’s bedroom walls adorned with book posters, up next to Ardie Savea or Ruby Tui.

‘How though?’ I hear you ask, a little less shrill than before.

Part 2: Engagement, connection, amplify

Well, that’s where number 2 comes into it, in 3 exciting parts.

Engagement

We can go out and ask people what habits they might need to make reading commonplace in their homes.

We will ask families, schools, communities if it's generational, is it access, or is it that no one has told them that it is OK to lose yourself in a story.

Books and stories are mirrors or doorways — you see yourself in them, or you can lose yourself in them. How do we lead them to that opportunity?

Connection

Are whānau connected to the school, is the school connected to the public library, is the library connected back to them?

What schools are sharing ideas, passions and plans about tackling the decline in tamariki reading for enjoyment?

Are schools making sustained silent reading a priority? Are teachers reading aloud to their students, showing them what a reading role model looks like? Do all students have access to great school library services?

Are libraries doing enough to shake off the cliché that libraries are quiet museums of books, and the librarian is to be feared? I am not sure we are, and that is coming from a librarian!

Are we doing enough? Or are we just not being smart and pooling all the incredible things being done in the name of promoting reading in Aotearoa New Zealand? Because there are many of us ready and willing to fight for this.

The Read NZ National Reading Survey in 2022 found 86% of parents of young children read with them at least once a week, usually at bedtime. So, the groundwork is definitely being laid.

Amplify

So, then we need to amplify.

With engagement and connection, we will find ‘we are Legion‘. If we get enough people on the same page, what a story we can create!

There are so many people, doing so many incredible things, trying to embed the knowledge that reading for pleasure has so many benefits and so few drawbacks. Can we say that about the increase in screen time?

I have already been out in schools, in the communities and libraries, and I can tell you this army is vast. My favourite was the Year 9s at Nga Tawa Diocesan School, some of whom challenged me with their sweeping statement that ‘they never read!’, but those students still left my session with a book tucked under their arm. Another willing recruit enlisted because I engaged and connected with them.

One step at a time

Come join the whānau, teachers, librarians, booksellers, authors, illustrators and school communities coming together to get reading off the bench, and firmly on the playing field.

It’s a big job, but Sir Ed took his mountain on one step at a time, so shall I.

I was told as a child that my nose was always in a book. This was true … but look where it’s got me. Talking to you, about the love of reading.

Win, win I’d say.