Summer Reading Challenge 2023

The Reading Agency and Norfolk library and Information Service are excited to introduce Ready, Set, Read!, Summer Reading Challenge 2023; a celebration of innovation and imagination, in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust.

The aims of the Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge takes place every year during the summer holidays and aims to support children’s reading for pleasure and prevent a dip in reading over the six-week break. As well as supporting literacy, reading is a fantastic way to promote mental wellbeing and have fun.

How to sign up and what the challenge involves

You can register for the Summer Reading Challenge at your local library or mobile library. Your child will receive a FREE pack. Children will be able to join a superstar team and their marvellous mascots as they navigate a fictional summer obstacle course brought to life with illustrations by children's illustrator Loretta Schauer, rewarded by free incentives including stickers. Your child can set their own reading goals, but we recommend reading six books in total.

If you struggle to visit a library regularly you can download children’s books from our virtual library. Visit here for more information eBooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines and eAudio - Norfolk County Council.

You can also join the challenge online with the reading agency at Summer Reading Challenge. All the resources are provided online so you won’t need to pick up a poster or stickers from us unless you want to, but you are welcome to borrow our books to complete the challenge.

What to do if you're not a member of the library

Joining your local library is free. You can either visit us and a friendly member of staff will be able to join you and your family straight away (you will need to bring proof of address such as a utility bill), or you can use this link to join online - Join Online | Norfolk Library and Information Service - Home Page (spydus.co.uk). After this your children will have access to thousands of free books in libraries and online to complete the challenge. It is worth noting that there are no overdue fees on children’s cards so if you temporarily misplace a book or are a bit late getting the books back to the library you won’t be charged.

And there’s more!

To make the Summer Reading Challenge even more fun, we are holding lots of fun events and activities in our libraries and it’s all free! See our Summer Reading Challenge activities.