Shropshire Libraries, supported by the Shropshire Council Early Years Team, and the Summer Reading Challenge invite children up to the age of 11 years to visit their local library, discover new books, explore the joy of music through reading and take part in the Summer Reading Challenge 2026: Read to the Beat!
Take part in the Summer Reading Challenge 2026
This year, The Reading Agency is partnering with Universal Music Group UK to bring Read to the Beat! to life. Illustrated by award-winning author and illustrator Harry Woodgate, the theme celebrates the power of music to inspire creativity, expression and connection through stories.
Launching on Saturday 18 July in Shropshire, the Summer Reading Challenge invites children aged up to 11 to visit their local library, discover new books, and explore the connection between storytelling and sound.
Children can choose which 6 goals they want to achieve with stickers as a reward, and a medal and a certificate if they complete them all. The goals vary between reading a book by a new author, taking part in a library activity or event, writing a book review or visiting the library at least 6 times. Each goal completed also unlocks a special digital reward.
Sarah Marston, portfolio holder for communities and environment, said:
“The Summer Reading Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for children across Shropshire to discover the enjoyment of reading while taking part in fun activities at their local library. Reading helps to build confidence, creativity and a lifelong love of learning, and I am delighted that our libraries continue to provide free opportunities for families to engage with books throughout the summer holidays. I encourage children and their families to get involved, visit their local library and take on the challenge this year.”
Annabel Gittins, library support manager, said:
“The Summer Reading Challenge is a key part of our summer programme in libraries with a wide variety of creative activities for families to help keep children entertained through the summer. 2026 is also the National Year of Reading and other family members can join in by taking part in Shropshire Libraries’ Read-a-Lottery.”
Visit www.shropshire.gov.uk/libraries/library-events/ to discover all the family activities on offer in libraries across the county.
Now in its 27th year, the Summer Reading Challenge is completely free to join. It aims to inspire a passion for reading outside the classroom.
To find out more about how to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge or to find your local participating library, visit summerreadingchallenge.org.uk or visit Shropshire Libraries’ website at www.shropshire.gov.uk/libraries
For all enquiries, please contact: [email protected]
Notes to Editors
About The Summer Reading Challenge:
The Summer Reading Challenge has been running since 1999 and helps to prevent the summer reading ‘dip’ that many young people experience during their summer holidays while schools are closed. With delivery through public libraries, the Summer Reading Challenge is accessible to all and provides a fun, free activity for children. In 2023, the Summer Reading Challenge reached 685,821 children and families across the UK, with 635,115 children taking part through their local library service. The Challenge also drove 133,697 new children’s library memberships which is 42% higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic total.
About The Reading Agency
The Reading Agency is a UK charity with a mission to empower people of all ages to read. Evidence shows that reading improves health and wellbeing, life chances and social connections. The Reading Agency champions access to the proven power of reading by providing activities for all ages. Working with public libraries, prisons, hospitals and other community settings, we reach over two million people a year. But with a UK population of over 67 million that’s not nearly enough. We want to get more people fired up about reading because everything changes when you read.
About Create
Create is a multi-award-winning charity empowering lives, reducing isolation and enhancing wellbeing through the creative arts. Since it was established in 2003, the charity has been guided by the knowledge that people need to create. A national charity that champions local priorities, Create partners with local community organisations to run high-quality creative projects for their service users. Spanning 16 different artforms, these projects are led by professional artists who deliver visual arts to filmmaking, jewellery-making to music, and most recently, circus arts!
createarts.org.uk | @createcharity
