“Investing in reading means investing in the building of societies that are smart, prepared and ready to face the challenges of the future”

INTERVIEW

Marta López is director of the Lecxit project, a programme which aims to increase the educational achievement of children by improving reading comprehension. As part of Lecxit, for three years she has been promoting the campaign “Let’s gain a summer of reading” to promote reading during the holidays for children in the 4th, 5th and 6th year of primary school.

It might seem an obvious question, but why is it important for children to read?

Reading is a source of experiences that nurtures the soul, and solely for this reason it is worth doing. However, from the perspective of opportunities it is also a form of life insurance. Children who read are more likely to do well in academic terms and, as a result, in life as well.

“11.2% of pupils still do not understand what they are reading by the time they finish primary school”.

But regrettably the data are not hopeful. We still do not have the aggregated results for the 2022 basic skills tests for the 6th year of primary education (only the results for the 4th year have been released so far), but the results from 2021 already revealed that 11.2% of pupils still do not understand what they are reading by the time they finish primary school, and all indications suggest that the situation will not improve if we consider that this percentage has been on an upward trajectory since 2019.

What happens during the summer?

During the summer children don’t go to school. For many children their engagement with books only takes place at the school; therefore, when the schoolyear is over, reading periods no longer form part of their lives.

So, would it be better for schools to stay open in July and August?

No. School has to end no matter what. Children have to change certain routines and they also need to rest, as do teachers and education professionals. But what doesn’t have to stop is learning. Not all children can have learning experiences during the holidays because not all children have access to the same resources. Research tells us that summer widens inequality between children because what they experience in July and August is hugely different depending on their social status: rich children go on summer camps, do intensive English courses and also have a family around them who ask them every day if they have read or written something. On the other hand, poor children stay in their neighbourhood or town for most of this period, without educational leisure activities and with few opportunities for support from those around them.

“Summer widens inequality between children because what they experience in July and August is hugely different depending on their social status”.

But not everything is lost and there are areas, such as reading, which could provide an opportunity. Reading (in the more primary sense of “deciphering a text”) is an activity that both rich and poor perform without distinction. Reading is one of the few things that, regardless of the financial means of families, can be assured with some ease, even in the summer, because the main tool we need to do it (i.e., the text or the book) is openly accessible and free of charge.

“We have the books. What we need is to mobilise certain policies so that they can be placed in the hands of all children without distinction”.

In Catalonia we have a strong network of public libraries, some of which are open during the holidays or, if not, can provide their users with enough reading matter for the entire month of August. Each user can borrow up to 30 items in any format to “get through the summer”. In other words, we have the books. What we need is to mobilise certain policies so that they can be placed in the hands of all children without distinction.

What should a summer of reading be like?

A summer of reading should be one that enables reading habits to be extended, even among people who have limited access to certain cultural and material resources. Indeed, this is not so easy because it implies a very holistic endeavour, involving families, libraries, schools, local authorities, etc. However, just because it is complex is no excuse for doing nothing. There are three dimensions where we can act: reading guidance and advice; training for the purposes of support; and promotion.

“Extending reading habits implies a very holistic endeavour, involving families, libraries, schools, local authorities, etc.”.

In terms of advice, we need children to benefit from a selection of books that is suited to their interests. It is far too often the case that the books that children take with them during the summer are more to do with the school’s recommendations rather than their own personal interests. Consequently, spending time and resources getting to know children and suggesting specific readings for each of them, would be a first step. Indeed, there are many libraries that prepare special book kits for each child in late July in conjunction with the local schools.

However, there is also a second dimension; namely, support. For children to read during the summer, it is necessary that the people around them also have minimal skills to do it. In the summer, this means working with families and leisure education professionals because during this period family members and leisure instructors are the only educational agents in contact with children.

Lastly, there is the dimension of promotion. In order to mobilise all the agents, political will is necessary. In this respect, as local actors with the ability to align educational, social and cultural policies, local authorities can play a highly important role in promoting reading during the summer. Simply coordinating the end of the schoolyear with use of the public library by children and their families would be a milestone. If we can also gain recognition in the sphere of education for the specific reading adventure each child goes on in the summer, so much the better.

In this respect, how important are local libraries?

The local public library should be to culture what public squares are to sports: a place of universal access that makes no distinction between users and which invites people to come in to introduce them to a specific (reading or sporting) activity without needing to be proficient in it. But this is not all. Unlike other public facilities, the library fulfils additional functions aside from being a point of entry. It acts as a proponent of culture, a guarantor of the right to information, an enabler of human relations and an advocate of learning, not to mention its role as a place to seek shelter from the heat.

“The library acts as a proponent of culture, a guarantor of the right to information, an enabler of human relations and an advocate of learning, not to mention its role as a place to seek shelter from the heat”.

In addition to the many functions performed by public libraries, if we consider that this summer many people won’t be going on holiday due to increasing inflation, it seems almost mandatory to consider a change in the operating hours of the service and extend their opening times during the summer.

“It seems almost mandatory to consider a change in the operating hours of libraries and extend their opening times during the summer”.

In recent years we have witnessed a trickle of school libraries closing, and half of the schools in Catalonia no longer have a library.

I think it is a topic that would merit an entire interview alone and about which certain individuals, such as Marta Cava or Carlos Ortiz, could say a lot more than I can. But there can be no doubt that the closure of school libraries is bad news. Statistics show that schools with their own school library, well integrated into the school project, secure better academic outcomes. However, despite this for many years this area has suffered from underfunding that hinders schools from prioritising this resource over others.

“Schools with their own school library, well integrated into the school project, secure better academic outcomes”.

However their value is unquestionable. As the Catalan Ministry of Education stipulates, school libraries must be responsible for the school’s documentary collection, for promoting a fondness of reading, for supporting the development of reading skills through the school reading plan, for encouraging the development of digital and informational skills and, above all, for providing the education community with resources for learning. In other words, their functions are at the heart of the school’s mission.

What is more, if we had a comprehensive network of school libraries, schools would benefit from a highly valuable bond between their action and children’s access to culture, as well as a bridge that would connect schools with the local library in an almost natural way.

Could Next Generation funds provide the opportunity to turn this absence around?

I don’t know if they could help address the absence of school libraries, but I do know that the Next Generation funds can provide an opportunity to launch programmes that will ensure that some time from now the levels of reading and comprehension will have risen.

Europe has assigned more than 70 billion euros to Spain for the post-Covid recovery, a large portion of which will be earmarked for educational activities to make up for the growing inequality among children in terms of academic outcomes. This is good news, but it also has risks if we are unable to transform the one-off investment into long-term improvements.

“Investing in reading means investing in building smart, prepared societies that are ready to take on the challenges of the future”.

In this respect, investing in reading is a winning formula because it means not only improving the skills which enable children to decipher texts but also, as I said at the beginning, investing in reading also means investing in access to more opportunities and in citizen participation. In other words, investing in reading means investing in building smart, prepared societies that are ready to take on the challenges of the future.

Should improving the reading comprehension of children and young people only be the responsibility of schools?

Obviously not. School already teaches children to read, and does a good job. Indeed, many schools in recent years have incorporated daily free reading or reading sponsor programmes into their activities. But for children to change their relationship with books so it allows them to improve their comprehension, many other actors must become involved.

To consolidate reading habits, we need non-academic settings, such as the family, extracurricular activities, the local library, children’s leisure centres or youth facilities in the neighbourhood. This is because, just as reading opens the doors to public life, this public life should open the doors to reading for us, beyond the school walls.

Only if we are collectively able to take on responsibility for enabling our children to experience reading in a positive light, both in and out of school, will we be able to improve reading comprehension rates to ensure that no child is left out of the system, missing opportunities.

For further information about the Lecxit programme:

• Download the practical guide to implementation How does Lecxit work?
• Would you like to sign up to LECXIT and become a reading volunteer?