The Reading Agency’s ‘Read, Write, Share’ Project Launches in Camden and Islington  

Camden and Islington Libraries are set to take part in The Reading Agency’s ambitious four-year reading project aimed at inspiring a love of reading, writing, and oracy among Year 5 and 6 pupils. The ‘Read, Write, Share‘ initiative will bring together local schools, libraries, and renowned writer-facilitators in a comprehensive project designed to enhance children’s literacy and communication skills. 

The project will consist of regular ‘Chatterbooks’ book club sessions, encouraging reading for pleasure through discussions, debates and review of books, as well as creative writing workshops led by celebrated local authors and facilitators. Participating children will also take part in special summer holiday clubs at local libraries, integrated with The Reading Agency’s annual Summer Reading Challenge, which challenges them to keep up their reading over the summer holidays with incentives and stickers.  

The children’s participation in the project will be marked by annual celebration events when the writing they’ve created throughout the project will be published in special anthologies. 

Working in schools across the neighbouring London boroughs of Camden and Islington, ‘Read, Write, Share’ will engage pupils living in areas with high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage. The boroughs both have higher-than-average rates of child poverty and low English proficiency, making literacy development crucial. The initiative will focus on engaging pupils from these disadvantaged communities, with an emphasis on inclusivity and sustainability. Research shows that reading drives children’s language and oracy development, as well as having implications for their social and emotional development and wellbeing. 

“By combining reading for pleasure with creative writing and public speaking, we’re creating an environment where children can develop essential skills while discovering the joy of reading. As a charity based in Camden, this project represents a significant investment in local young people’s futures.” 

– Karen Napier MBE, CEO, The Reading Agency

‘Read, Write, Share’ will launch in early 2025, followed by summer library sessions and celebration events. The project which aims to help children think of themselves as readers and writer, who have a voice, is funded by the St Paul’s Schools Foundation, of which the Mercers’ Company is corporate trustee.  

The initiative follows funding of the three-year Get Islington Reading project, from the Mercers’ Company’s Young People & Education programme, which was co-delivered by The Reading Agency in 2020 to foster a community of happy, confident young readers, aged 9 to 14, facing disadvantage in Islington.