Creating a reading community

Collage of 3 photos. A teacher reading a book to a group of students. Group of students sitting at tables in a school library. Father and child reading at home.

Image credit: Top-right image — Library, Miriam Vale State School, 2022 by Miriam Vale State School. Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved: CC BY 4.0. Image brightened, saturated, cropped and merged.

Find out how school staff, school and public libraries, and families and whānau can work together as a community to support and motivate students to read for pleasure.

Contents

Reading Community Framework graphic showing 7 petals containing words (interconnecting factors) and icons, with 'Engaged Reader' in the centre.

A school reading community

Effective school reading communities inspire and support students to read for pleasure. Use the School Reading Community Framework and watch a video to get strategies for creating a reading community.
Group of students sitting at tables in a school library.

A school-wide reading culture

A school with a reading culture fosters positive attitudes towards reading. Find out how to create a school-wide reading culture. Use our primary and secondary school review tools to guide you and monitor your progress.
3 children in book character costumes. The middle girl, dressed as an alligator, is holding some books.

Reading promotion

Reading promotion raises the profile of reading in your school. It celebrates and strengthens a reading culture and allows you to share your passion for reading, favourite titles and authors. Here are some tips and ideas for promoting reading for pleasure.
A boy filling up his bag with books to read at home.

Home-school reading partnerships

Creating home-school reading partnerships can improve equity of access to factors that encourage reading. Explore ways to strengthen collaboration so young people have resources and support to read for pleasure at school and home.
Father and daughter reading at home.

Reading at home

Find out how you can support and encourage your children and teenagers to read for pleasure. This is one of the most powerful ways of improving their literacy, learning, and wellbeing.
Reading Together Programme workshop St Jospehs Otahuhu.

Reading Together® programme

The Reading Together® programme helps parents and whānau support their children’s reading more effectively at home. The National Library can provide extra books, and professional advice and support to help the programme succeed in your school.
Photo of the children's area at Tūranga (Christchurch Central Library) with wooden tree-like sculpture, rows of shelving, toys, search screens, bright coloured ring-shaped ornaments hanging from ceiling.

Collaborating with public libraries

Working with your local public library improves student access to reading resources, services, and programmes. It supports reading for pleasure at home and during the holidays. Collaborating also helps public libraries respond to curriculum needs.
IBBY Conference delegates at Services to Schools.

Organisations, events, and awards celebrating reading

Learn about organisations, events, and awards dedicated to creating and celebrating readers, and children’s literature in New Zealand and overseas.
Reading engagement
Creating a reading community