This weekend I met someone who really should have known about the National Year of Reading – an avid reader working at our local railway station. When I mentioned it to her, she looked at me blankly. My enthusiasm was slightly dampened. We are, after all, at the end of June.

Earlier this year, as a school governor, I discovered our school leadership team barely knew the initiative existed and hadn’t seen any of the free resources available to schools. It was early days, so I assumed awareness would build quickly and I happily started forwarding links and resources I’d come across.

Then, just a few weeks ago, I gave a talk to parents at our school about reading for pleasure. I introduced the National Year of Reading and asked for a show of hands to understand who already knew about it. Around 30 parents were in the room – people who clearly cared enough about reading to attend my talk. Only one person put their hand up, and she also happens to be a friend of mine who follows me on Instagram.

Of course, these are only my own experiences, and I know there will be communities where the campaign has achieved fantastic reach. But they did make me wonder what more all of us could do to help.

I remember so clearly the day I first heard about the National Year of Reading. A national campaign focused on reading for pleasure? Brilliant. Like so many people across publishing, I immediately wanted to find a way to get behind it.

Now we’re halfway through 2026 and, yes, it’s making a difference. We’ve seen the data showing that children’s enjoyment of reading and daily reading habits have risen for the first time in five years. We’re seeing fantastic partnerships, lots of activity and what may well be a rise in reading for pleasure — with 2.1 million children supported through school and early year events. Over 600,000 books, audiobooks and magazines have been distributed and 114 ambassadors have joined the campaign. But I also think it’s fair to say there’s still a huge opportunity ahead of all of us – publishers, booksellers, libraries, authors and everyone who believes in the power of reading.

At the Bookseller Marketing & Publicity Conference this week we heard more about the ambitions behind the consumer campaign. The goals are significant: reaching 10 to 16-year-old boys, engaging parents and carers of 0–5s, supporting disadvantaged communities, working alongside more than 900 partners and recruiting 100,000 volunteers to read in schools. These are ambitious and worthwhile goals.

Building national awareness normally takes years, not months. No campaign team could achieve that alone, which is why I think all of us have a role to play

They also highlight just how difficult it is to deliver a national behaviour-change campaign in such a short space of time. The programme was announced only a few months before the start of 2026. Building national awareness normally takes years, not months. No campaign team could achieve that alone, which is why I think all of us have a role to play. We don’t have much time to lose with half the year already behind us. What else needs to happen to make sure this brilliant initiative reaches the people it’s designed for? What can we all do during the second half of 2026 to help?

Libraries have embraced the campaign brilliantly. Our local library is covered in National Year of Reading branding and I picked up my bookmark on World Book Night. I’m probably more likely than most people to notice the branding because I’m actively looking for it.

This week I’ve read about Pushkin Children’s donating 500 books to primary schools, and heard that Hachette have included National Year of Reading pages at the back of some of their books. I know of other publishers who have supported disadvantaged communities because of the initiative and, of course, we’ve seen the brilliant Summer of Sport campaign and the sporting ambassadors getting behind it.

When you look at the partnerships, resources and activity that’s already been created in such a short space of time, it is an incredible amount to have delivered and this leads me to wonder how the rest of us can help amplify it even further over the next six months.

Let us take the message into more schools. Schools could include information about the National Year of Reading in parent newsletters, and if you’re confident speaking to parents, why not offer a free reading-for-pleasure talk? (I’ve put one together for EYFS to KS2 schools and would be delighted to share it with anyone who would like to use or adapt it.)

Publishers could include National Year of Reading flyers or QR codes in book parcels, newsletters or even the backs of books, just as we’ve already seen from Hachette. Authors could mention the initiative during school visits, festival appearances and events. Let’s encourage more employers to get involved, support more community groups, and make sure sports clubs, youth organisations and local networks know about it, too.

Over the next six months, I’m going to keep talking about the National Year of Reading wherever I can – at schools, events and in conversations like the one I had at the railway station. If a few more of us do the same, I think we could make a real difference.

I would love to hear what others are doing to support the National Year of Reading, so please do share your ideas in the comments. We might inspire each other.