Australia’s biggest reading challenge returns to GV

This campaign encourages young readers, aged up to 18, to visit their local library and keep reading during the summer holidays.

Last summer, more than 24,000 Victorian children participated, logging thousands of books and helping to combat the ‘summer slide’ — the loss of literacy skills that can occur when children stop reading over the holidays.

The program is free to join and participants can log the books they read, listen to, or have read to them.

They can also log the number of days they read.

Families are encouraged to continue reading aloud to children and track progress through the Read Books website, earning digital badges and entering prize draws.

Alternatively, families can pick up a paper log from any GV Library or download one from its website.

Local prizes up for grabs include Big Summer Read merchandise, lucky dip prizes and Collin’s Booksellers gift cards.

This year, there are also national and statewide prizes across four age groups, with book packs, Bluetooth headphones, a Kobo eReader and Zoos Victoria memberships up for grabs.

“Reading as little as six books over summer can help maintain a child’s literacy level,” Public Libraries chief executive Angela Savage said.

“The Big Summer Read makes this fun and accessible for every family.”

Now in its fifth year, the Big Summer Read has expanded beyond Victoria to include public libraries in Tasmania, Queensland, NSW and South Australia — all to engage young people in reading for pleasure, support literacy development, and raise awareness of the free resources available through public libraries.