When I was a teenager, a school librarian changed my life. She opened the door to reading and writing for me by organizing a poetry slam. In encouraging me to compete in a performance poetry competition, she gave me important life skills.
Reading and writing became my coping strategy for when life was rough and the state of the world felt overwhelming. Tools for changing things, for building something better. Through her, reading and writing became my paths to community, enrichment and a career in the arts.
I wouldn’t be the national laureate today if not for that school librarian. The value and impact an encouraging adult can have on a young person’s life cannot be overstated. Having someone who takes a stand for young people and their rights. Having someone who understands the way a joyful relationship to reading and writing can set life-changing transformations in motion.
Support young people’s right
Those of us who are tasked with being that force in young people’s lives are invited to great joy and saddled with great responsibility. To support young people’s right to literature and the arts. Support it against political point-making, cuts in the public sector and deepening culture wars played out in the arenas of schools and libraries.
It has never been more important that adults stand up for young people’s rights. That we listen when young people express their experiences, needs, feelings and opinions.
But of course, it’s not an easy task. Working with reading and literature promotion for and alonside young people can be a lonely and frustrating job. Navigating the structural inequalities that hinder young people’s rights is challenging. But it is deeply important. Standing up for children and young people’s right to the arts, to literature, to meaningful leisure, to education and to making their voices heard.
Form your own opinions
We need to remind ourselves, time and time again, that reading promotion is a pillar of democracy. Being able to access reliable information, analyze multiple per-spectives, reflect on sources, identify bias – and form your own opinions. Being able to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences. Having the space to write, read, discuss, dream and build better options than the future young people are currently presented with.
The text you now hold in your hands is made for exactly that reason. This booklet is a resource in that important work. It includes methods, current research, examples and inspiration for you to use in your continued work for young people’s rights. Literature as a means for democracy.
So this booklet is for you, dear reader.
If you are looking to start dipping a toe into the world of reading promotion – here you will find tips for how to begin, what to do and why it matters.
Tired of doing things the same way
If you are already well versed in reading promotion but tired of doing things the same way they’ve always been done – here you will find an expansion of the term and the introduction of a larger toolbox.
And if you fall into the category of so many teachers, librarians, artists and activists working for young people’s right to read, and are all but burned out trying to do it all – here you will find some things to refill your own well of inspiration, as well as a community with which to continue the work. A space to take on the challenges we face together. Research and tools to change the world.
Finally, dear reader, thank you for standing up for democracy. One book at a time.
/Agnes Török
Tips and tricks for how to give a young person a love of reading
Find out what the they are personally interested in – what are their hobbies, what brings them joy? Find and offer books that are specifically about that subject.
Start established reading as a shared activity, a way to hang out and spend time together. Set clear and generous expectations – maybe it’s okay to draw or play a simple game while listening to a story being read aloud. Let them become interested in the story gradually.
Be a role model. If adults don’t prioritize reading in our daily lives, how can we expect children and young people to? Make space for ten minutes of reading to yourself or aloud to others every day.