Raising Readers - Megan Daley

The Sydney Weekend magazine in The Daily Telegraph (July 26-27, 2025) recently published an extract by Megan Daley, author of Raising Readers: How to Nurture a Child's Love of Books. A new edition of her 2019 book has just been published. 

She believes in the Science of Reading, which draws from neuroscience, linguistics, and cognitive psychology, asserting that reading and writing are not natural skills like speaking but need deliberate teaching.

Daley also suggests parents:

• Advocate for evidence-based literacy instruction
• Understand how reading works
• Support children at home with rich oral and print language environments
• Collaborate with educators and specialists (e.g., speech pathologists, psychologists)

For me, this reinforces what I see in the library each day. Children need more than access to books. They need explicit support and encouragement to become confident readers. The research is important, but so too is the human side of teaching — the conversations, the joy of sharing stories, and the chance to guide a student towards a book that sparks their interest.

As teacher librarians, we can bridge research and practice. We create spaces where reading feels valued, support colleagues in evidence-based literacy, and help families see the vital role they play. Each child who moves from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” is a reminder that raising readers is both science and art.

Decline in Reading ("Good Weekend" Magazine Article - 5 July 2025)

An article was published recently in Good Weekend Magazine (The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age) on July 5 that raised concerns about the decline in reading amongst Australians, particularly school students. 

A number of issues associated with reading and literacy were raised, which included the following:

• 29% of secondary school students no longer read for pleasure.
• Year 9 writing standards have slipped to the standard of a primary schooler.
• As many as one in three students in a typical classroom struggle with reading.
• Debates over how reading should be taught.
• Under-resourcing of school libraries and, in some schools, the removal of their libraries altogether.
• Decline in reading for leisure has resulted in poorer writing skills.
• Less critical engagement with texts in the classroom as a result of less reading.
• Difficulty in publishing successful titles. Fewer and fewer titles are being released each year that become "best sellers"

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Social Media was also explored, and the impact it has on reading and writing, e.g. ChatGPT can produce essays that cannot be detected as being AI-generated. 

A warning is given: if we as a nation fail to address the decline in reading and literacy skills, there will be significant social and economic consequences in the years ahead. 

I have always believed that reading underpins success in life.  I believe that reading is an essential skill that one should possess, as it forms a foundation for success in learning and active participation in society. 

This article will assist in library advocacy, particularly in highlighting the importance of reading to ones broader development, but also to boost reading and writing skills.

Reference:

Callaghan, G., 2025, ‘A ticking time bomb’: How Australia’s reading slump is making us stupid, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 1 August 2025, <https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-ticking-time-bomb-how-australia-s-reading-slump-is-making-us-stupid-20250501-p5lvoe.html>.