Cuts lunacy

I don't blog nearly enough (perhaps that should be my New Year's Resolution) but this time I'm so annoyed I just had to express it. The news that Booktrust is to lose 100% of their funding has left me feeling not in the least bit festive - the loss of schemes such as BookStart, BookTime and BookedUp are bound to have a negative effect on kids motivation to read. Most of my experience has been with BookedUp where year 7 students are allowed to choose a book from a varied selection that they can keep. For many of these young people the Booked Up book will be the first one they own - they do not come from families where mum reads to the kids before they go to bed at night, and there is often no reading culture at home at all. These kids never see mum or dad lost in a book, if they are lucky they may see dad reading one of the tabloids but most of the time the only reading promotion they will get is through their schools, in most cases from the school library. Being able to give the boys/girls a book each at the start of their Secondary school life gives librarians the chance to start off on the right foot and I have witnessed the excitement that happens when the books are delivered and given out many times. It's not just their own book they benefit from either, many pupils swap their books so they have access to lots of new titles and naturally this promotes talk around the books and leads to book recommendations. 


How can a government that professes to have literacy for all at the heart of its being even consider cancelling funding to Booktrust? It just doesn't make sense, it is an act of lunacy. What a Christmas present to all the children of Britain - ho ho ho indeed.