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 fourth year, the BIG Summer Read has grown to include all public library services in Victoria as well as public libraries in New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland. Last year in 2023, more than 16,000 young readers participated in the challenge and over 220,000 books were read!
The program starts on the 1st December and finishes on the 31st January each year and registration is free. Participating library services will offer incentive prizes for those who complete the challenge as well as a state wide 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 participate each year. 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 these books as part of the challenge.
Supporters
How it all started
Research identified a phenomenon known as the ‘summer slide’, which refers to the loss of literacy skills over the summer holidays when children do not read. It is estimated on average that children will lose the equivalent of two to three months of reading proficiency if they do not engage with reading across the holiday period. Loss of reading proficiency is most acute in children from economically disadvantaged communities.
Public libraries were in a unique and advantageous position to address the summer slide; with studies finding children who receive and read free books over summer experience the equivalent of attending three years of summer school, with the most economically disadvantaged children gaining the most from such initiatives.
A Victorian approach to the summer reading club/challenges typically offered by public libraries raised awareness of the benefits of reading over summer and aimed to ensure all Victorians have access to resources that have been proven to slow the slide. It also helped position public libraries as vital community resources in early childhood development, helping to foster a lifelong love of reading and learning. So, the Big Summer Read was developed.
Public Libraries Victoria’s Children’s and Youth Services Special Interest Group (CYS SIG) took on the task to develop the challenge with the goal of engaging children and their families in a fun and dynamic campaign supported by readbooks.com.au/bsr, PLV’s user friendly reading challenge website, that makes it easy to register, track reading and earn digital ‘badges’ as rewards for reaching reading milestones.
Library services across the state now participate in the BIG Summer Read each year. The campaign aims to increase library loans, engage young people in reading for pleasure and support literacy development. It is hoped the program will build on the wonderful Libraries Change Lives campaign and improve cross-sector collaboration into the future.
The program starts on 1 December and finishes on 31 January each year.
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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.