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Publishers have pledged their support for a new government-backed pro-reading campaign, Reading for Life, which is to launch in the spring to continue the work of the National Year of Reading 2008 (NYR).
Reading for Life will promote the value of reading using media and brand partners, targeting key audiences including pre-school children, black minority ethnic children, white working class boys and adult learners.
Scholastic, the Random House Group and Walker are all endorsing the campaign, which will be led by the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency. It has also attracted backing from the Department for Children, Schools & Families, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and local authorities across England. Other NYR consortium members include Booktrust, Arts Council England and Volunteer Reading Help.
Two big initiatives have already been confirmed for 2009: Robert Wiseman Dairies will run a promotion with Walker in March using the Wally character. Meanwhile, Marmite is signed up for a promotion with Orion based around Horrid Henry, which will see Marmite-loving families receiving free book downloads.
Honor Wilson-Fletcher, project director of the National Year of Reading, said: "The overall feeling is that the approach of the NYR and its ability to reach the audiences we wanted has gone incredibly well. We've got just under two million new library users; children's library lending is up 10% from June to September this year and we've given away 300,000 books, reached 2.8 million C2D [social grade] families, and seen a 150% increase in schools joining Reading Connects. But the initiative needs to carry on because it is about changing attitudes."
NLT director Jonathan Douglas described the NYR as "an overwhelming success" and promised that the new campaign would continue to engage new audiences. Meanwhile Gail Rebuck, chair and chief executive of Random House, said that by extending the NYR: "we can deliver the message all year round that reading can be fun and rewarding and that books have the power to transform lives".
Reading for Life will be launched officially at the end of February 2009 and is expected to run for at least 12 months before being subject to a funding review. Wilson-Fletcher and the rest of the NYR team are set to leave their posts at the end of March.