The Biggest Public Library supported reading challenge in Australia
The BIG Summer Read is an annual reading challenge run by Public Libraries Victoria. The BSR encourages young readers 0-18 years to read and engage with their local public libraries over the Australian Summer holidays in December and January.
Now in it’s Fifth year, the BIG Summer Read has grown to include all public library services in Victoria as well as public libraries in Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia. Last year in 2024, more than 24,000 young readers participated in the challenge, and that was just in Victoria!
The program starts on the 1st December and finishes on the 31st January each year and registration is free. Participating library services typically offer incentive prizes for those who complete the challenge as well as a national prize draw to encourage and reward the efforts of young readers.
Join the challenge here https://readbooks.com.au/bsr
General FAQs
Is my library service participating?
Yes! All library services in Victoria and Tasmania participate each year. A select number of libraries in Queensland and South Australia will also participate. Please contact your local library for more information.
Who can participate?
All children between the ages of 0-18 are welcome to participate! Independent and non-independent readers can log any book they read, that is read to them or listened to as an audio. We encourage parents and caregivers to continue to read aloud to young people during the summer school holidays and log their reading as part of the challenge.
How it all started
The ‘Summer Slide’ refers to a loss in literacy skills that children experience during the summer school holidays if they do not engage in reading activities. On average, this decline is calculated to be equivalent to two or three months of reading proficiency. This loss is especially pronounced in children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, who may not have access to books or other forms of reading material. Over time this gap widens and children fall behind in their overall development.
Public libraries provide an essential and lifelong service for reading and offer opportunities for socialisation, play, and activities that promote literacy. Engaging with public library programs and services can significantly increase a young person’s enjoyment of reading and likelihood of engaging in daily reading. Reading as little as six books over the summer break can help maintain a child’s reading proficiency at a level achieved in the previous academic year.
The Big Summer Read campaign aims to address the ‘summer slide’ by:
• engaging young people in reading for pleasure
• supporting literacy development
• raising awareness among young people and their families of the resources available to them through public libraries.
A national approach helps position our libraries as vital community resources in early childhood development and ensures all Australians have access to free resources, which have been proven to mitigate these learning declines.
The program starts on 1 December and finishes on 31 January each year.
For all media enquiries please email [email protected]
Further Reading
Dynia, J.M., Piasta, S.B., Justice, L.M. and Columbus Metropolitan Library, 2015. Impact of library-based summer reading clubs on primary-grade children’s literacy activities and achievement. The Library Quarterly, 85(4), pp.386-405.