Citing research in the U.S. and the U.K. that show reading by children for fun has declined, David Shelley, CEO of Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK, has launched an initiative called Raising Readers, under which a page at the back of many Hachette adult books will talk about "the value of fostering a lifelong habit of reading for pleasure and tips on how to do so." As Shelley indicated in a letter to Hachette authors, illustrators, and translators, "Ideally, this letter would be signed by whoever created the book, either based on a template we'll provide or in your own words."
He emphasized that the voluntary effort could be highly effective "because across Hachette in all English language markets we sell around 220 million of your books a year (across print, ebooks and audio--the letter will be included in print and ebook formats alike, as well as audio editions), so the reach of this campaign could be very wide. The plan is for this letter to be featured in as many of our black and white adult fiction and nonfiction titles as possible. For all other authors and artists, we will be sharing other important ways you can support this initiative and help get the message out there with us."
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| David Shelley | |
Shelley said, too, that the company aims to spread "this message as widely as possible. There are many big issues out there for our industry, but this decline in reading for pleasure amongst kids is one of the most serious, especially as it appears that reading for pleasure amongst kids also correlates with socio-economic background." This effort will include increasing partnerships with literacy charities, continuing to oppose attempted book bans in the U.S. and elsewhere, and support for the creation of more school libraries.
"I know I'm preaching to the choir here," Shelley wrote, "but we also know from a vast amount of research that reading for pleasure in children increases empathy, promotes social mobility, and ultimately increases opportunity. So, as well as being concerned for the future commercial health of the ecosystem of which we're all a part, the overwhelming concern is that this trend is going to negatively impact the life chances of a great many kids.
"It is fair to say that book sales have been remarkably resilient in 2024 at Hachette and in the industry generally--and book publishing remains one of the most successful creative industries. However, given the trend we are seeing in relation to kids reading for pleasure, we can't rely on this continuing to be the case if we don't nurture the readers of the future. Kids need to read for their own enjoyment if they're to read for enjoyment as adults."
Shelley thanked Megan Tingley, president and publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, for coming up with the idea and helping to make it a reality.