Tacaíocht
Tá Leabhair Pháistí Éireann ag obair i dtreo todhchaí ina mbeidh na hacmhainní agus an bonneagar riachtanacha ag gach pobal scoile ar oileán na hÉireann chun cultúr léitheoireachta a bhuanú. In éagmais maoiniú stáit, is iomaí scoil nach bhfuil leabharlann scoile tiomnaithe ná ábhair léitheoireachta atá nua-aimseartha, cuimsitheach agus ionadaíoch dá ndaltaí acu.
Our advocacy work at Children’s Books Ireland
Children and young people in Ireland deserve equity of access to books, books that represent their lives and encourage them to reach their full potential. In the absence of state funding, our book-gifting projects set out to fill this need, supporting schools to stock their libraries with new, modern and inclusive reading materials. But for every school we can help, there are hundreds more who need our support. As such, we are working to effect change at a policy level, so that every child in Ireland has the opportunity to become a reader for life.
What we want to see
We want government recognition of the value of reading for joy (across educational policy) and a sustained commitment to supporting school communities to develop and sustain creative cultures of reading for joy for their students. And that means the creation and implementation of a sustainable and permanent funding stream for school libraries, which should stock at least 10 titles per student, minimum, in order to be representative and impactful. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science called a National Advisory Group on School Library Provision in 2022, and we will continue to advocate for this to be established.
It also means a recognition that every school library should be staffed by a qualified school librarian, so we want a commitment from Government to expand the JCSP School Library Demonstration Project, across all secondary schools, prioritising DEIS schools initially. The Library Demonstration Project, currently in place across 30 secondary schools, proves that the school library model works. That’s why it should be a reality in every school in the country, and that’s why we’re also calling for a comparable primary school library programme, with sustained funding for books and qualified school librarians, to put reading for joy at the heart of school life.
When we read for joy, we do it because we want to, we do it because we want to engage with excellent stories, we do it because we want to talk to our friends and our families about the books we’re reading. Reading for joy isn’t homework, it isn’t research, it isn’t something we have to do. It’s reading for the sheer enjoyment of it, reading to find out what our favourite characters are getting up to, where the next instalment in an exciting series will take us, what the pages of a new graphic novel will show us.
If you can read for joy, research evidence shows that you’ll be happier, you’ll be more empathetic, you’ll do better in school, and you’ll have more and more words to express yourself to the world, and to understand the world, too. If you have consistent access to printed books from early childhood through to your teenage years, you are more likely to be a successful student, and you are more likely to develop and hone the skills that enable you to develop a genuine love of reading. We believe that books make things better!
We want children and young people in Ireland to have more books. More books in their homes, more books in their schools, more books in their libraries, more books in their communities. Books are not extra – books are essential.
In 2024, we received 750 applications for our book-gifting programmes from schools around the country. In 2025, this jumped to 1,054. This is a resounding testament to the amazing work and endless creativity of school communities in Ireland who want to put reading for joy at the heart of school life. But it’s also indicative of the struggles many schools face when it comes to accessing the most basic thing you need when you want to read for joy – books. Put simply, schools need more books, and those books must be excellent, diverse, inclusive, and representative.
We want political parties in Ireland, both those in government and those in opposition, to recognise the importance of reading for joy in the lives of children and young people (and in the lives of the adults who care for them and about them), and to commit to supporting school communities to develop cultures of reading for joy for their students.
How you can help us
Our most powerful tool as advocates for reading for joy is our collective voice. We want you to contact your local representatives expressing your support for our Reading Revolution manifesto, and calling on them to put funding for school libraries and access to excellent books across all educational settings at the heart of their political agenda. You can also write to the Minister for Education and Youth, because every message that emphasises the importance of reading for children and young people makes an impact.
You can read our Joy of Reading: Books and Wellbeing call to action here.
You can find your local representatives here.
You can contact the Minister for Education and Youth here.
