Sian Hardy, Director of Literacy Hive considers the need for deliberate, proactive and empowering change in the National Year of Reading
There are two kinds of change. There is change that is done to us – the kind that often leaves us feeling overwhelmed, isolated and powerless. And there is change that we initiate – deliberate, proactive and (at its best) empowering. Too often, the experience of school life falls into the “done to” camp, shaped by shifting expectations, competing priorities and a stubborn decline in reading engagement.
In the face of this national trend, the National Year of Reading 2026 is a call for proactive change. It recognises that shifting the narrative around reading isn’t something that any one individual, school or organisation can achieve alone and offers a moment of national coordination: a chance to align activity, amplify effort, and build a lasting legacy. However, if we are to ensure that the impact of this National Year of Reading extends beyond 2026, we need systems and structures that will make good practice easier to find, share and sustain. For me, that infrastructure boils down to three words: Connect. Support. Empower. And it’s why I created Literacy Hive.
Connect
While the statistics around reading engagement make for sombre reading, support from the wider literacy world has never been greater. Charities, publishers, sports and arts organisations, as well as commercial platforms, all create resources to help engage young readers. The trouble is these projects, programmes and services are scattered across countless websites and take time to find – time that most educators simply do not have.
When discovery is difficult, access becomes uneven. The result is that, while some schools are able to engage with what’s available, many remain unaware of the support and expertise on offer. As an open-access signposting platform, Literacy Hive was created to connect busy educators to the wider world of books and reading and make it easier for all schools to see what’s out there.
Literacy Hive doesn’t claim to have all the answers: it can’t change curriculum and assessment pressures, undo the impact of the pandemic, or ensure that every school has a properly funded library. What it can do is make the existing support landscape visible and easier to navigate –because you can’t choose what you can’t see.
Support
Visibility is the first step. Support is about practical scaffolding that makes it easier to plan, coordinate and maintain momentum. It’s about having mechanisms that make identifying relevant resources simple and straightforward, especially when time is such a precious commodity. That’s why Literacy Hive resources are organised into headings that map to different areas of the curriculum.
Our National Year of Reading Hub follows the same pattern. It brings together resources from across the literacy community and organises them into clear categories with filters that allow practitioners to refine their search by key stage, resource type and budget. If we want change to be deliberate instead of reactive, planning is key. The online Literacy Year calendar provides a month-by-month overview of the celebration days, shadowing schemes, festivals and conferences that schools can use to develop and support their reading for pleasure strategy. Each entry includes links to further resources that are regularly updated to ensure that practitioners have everything they need in one place and can take advantage of everything on offer.
Empower
Choice and agency are recognised cornerstones of reading for pleasure pedagogy. But choice and agency don’t just matter for readers. Teachers and librarians also need to feel confident in their ability to find and choose the support that fits their setting, especially when literacy budgets are under such pressure.
By offering an overview of the support available and providing a way to identify and compare different options, Literacy Hive empowers teachers and librarians to make informed decisions and ensure value for money – while access to any free resources helps to make limited funds go just that little bit further.
A Practical Offer (Not a Rallying Cry)
If you are reading this article, you are probably already committed to the aims of the National Year of Reading and are working hard to deliver them. So, this blog is not a rallying cry; it’s a practical offer. If 2026 is to leave a legacy, we need structures that make the work of engaging young readers easier to sustain. While I can’t change the wider conditions schools are working in, my hope is that Literacy Hive can be a useful companion through 2026 and beyond. It is a place you can turn to when you are looking for ideas, when you are planning ahead or when you need a solution to a particular literacy need: Connect, Support, Empower. Three words that form the guiding principles of Literacy Hive and that I believe can help deliver lasting change.
Sian Hardy has over 35 years’ experience of working in the children’s book world. She began her career in editorial and then moved to be the buyer for a national children’s book club after doing an MA in Children’s Literature. More recently, she has worked in sales and marketing, working on delivering the school programmes for a number of children’s literature festivals and supporting an e-book platform dedicated to the school market. She now runs Literacy Hive, the literacy resource signposting website for teachers and librarians.