Our impact on children

Children who develop a love of reading early are more likely to succeed in education and throughout their lives. By supporting children, our work can have the maximum possible impact in the long term.

We have evaluated the impact of six years of Inspiring Readers school libraries. The programme had an especially positive impact on children and their educational development, with children reading more regularly and  enjoying reading, with self-esteem, confidence and reading skills improving as a result. Below, you can read examples about how on how our work, including Inspiring Readers, impacts children.

New-found confidence

Perhaps even more significantly, children report feeling more confident, more able to take steps towards a brighter future and a new love of books. These results were noted again in 2018, when the Inspiring Readers programme expanded to Uganda. 

“Before, we used to fear and shiver when teachers asked us to read in front of the class. Nowadays everyone can read easily and we no longer fear.” 
– Pupil, Mbale Police Wanyera Primary School, Mbale, Uganda 

Improved reading speed

In Kenya’s deprived Laikipia county, literacy levels are low and schools lack the resources pupils need to learn to read. The African Educational Trust supports schools in the region and in 2018 we partnered with them on their Yes to Reading project. Together, we created 14 school libraries full of UK donated and locally purchased books and trained teachers in how to support pupils’ reading. The impact has clear, with a 52% increase in words read per minute for children in participating schools. Read the impact report here.  

Pupils reading in Dol Dol school
52% increase in words read per minute

Pupils are using their libraries more

Passing exams is critical for young people’s futures and many students use their libraries to revise. But all too often those libraries lack the books students need and librarians do not have the skills to support exam takers. 

We have created 16 Study Hubs in Zambian public libraries and schools where pupils can find revision books, textbooks, a study guide and librarians who had received training in how to guide them. As a result, visits to the 16 Study Hubs to utilise the materials have increased from 4,512 to 18,485 a month. Find out more here.

310% increase in the average monthly visits to the Study Hubs