Libraries NI Launch Big Summer Read 2025

Today, we had a lovely visit from Kiefer, the branch manager of the Waterside Library, to promote the 'Big Summer Read 2025'. What is the 'The Big Summer Read'?

Libraries across Northern Ireland are inviting children of primary school age to take part in this year’s Big Summer Read, a 66-day challenge designed to get young people reading for at least 15 minutes a day throughout the school holidays.

The Big Summer Read encourages daily reading and regular library visits from Friday 27 June to the end of August, helping to combat the “summer slide” in literacy while fostering a lasting reading habit. The 66-day timeframe reflects the widely recognised theory that it takes 66 days to form a new habit – giving children the perfect opportunity to establish a regular reading routine before they return to school.

This year’s theme is Time Travel, transforming books into a passport through time. From prehistoric landscapes to distant futures, enchanted kingdoms to real-world history, each daily reading prompt is linked to a specific topic or era. Children can chart their own course—completing prompts in any order—and tick off each reading adventure as they go.