New chapter in reading challenge embraced by Fifers of all ages

A new chapter of a reading challenge developed specially for Fifers has been voted a success – even by the region’s hard-to-reach teens.

Fife Reading Challenge: The Reading Trail ran in all Fife libraries over the summer months and attracted almost 3,200 participants, with a rise in the number of teenagers taking part proving very encouraging.

Previously, the annual summer reading event followed a national format and was only for school age children, who were challenged to read a set number of books over their holidays.

However, year-on-year, fewer youngsters had been taking part and OnFife wanted to create something to re-energise the challenge and make it more relatable.

The new format was developed by OnFife with input from staff at Fife Council’s integrated libraries, , with all bringing their knowledge of their customers to the planning. It was opened to people of all ages who could set their own reading-based challenges with the chance to win a variety of prizes.

The results show it has helped reverse the downward trend for the challenge and provide a solid platform to build on to attract even more participants in coming years.

The event was launched with four author events aimed at different age groups and libraries held more than 50 events over the summer to encourage people to register to take part in the reading challenge.

Instead of only reading books, participants were invited to set their own goals, with anything from designing book covers for favourite works to writing poems and reading different genres.

The good news is that work has already started on planning the second Fife Reading Challenge next year.

Samantha MacDougall, OnFife’s Community Wellbeing Manager, said: “The teams across all Fife’s libraries embraced the new challenge with great enthusiasm, engaging with customers and holding dozens of events that encouraged people to take part.

“That is undoubtedly reflected in the participation and we’re delighted the new Fife Reading Challenge has successfully reversed the downward trend we were experiencing in recent years.

“It’s given us a great new format to build on and we’ll be working hard to encourage many more people of all ages to take part next year and in future years.”

Picture: Author Fiona Lowry with some of her young fans at an event at Valleyfield Library. (Pic Credit On Fife)