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06Feb2012
Literacy in unexpected places

Posted by Jonathan Douglas

Last week I found myself in the changing rooms of the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal star Theo Walcott and our Patron Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. Having completed a pitch side photo shoot for the launch of our 2012 Premier League Reading Stars programme, the VIP party, which I was tailing, had gone off-piste and ended up in this unexpected location.

Our partnership with the Premier League is vital because it takes us to an audience which doesn’t always get excited about reading but is passionate about football. Our research shows that white boys on free school meals are less likely to read for pleasure than many other groups and more likely to have problems with their literacy as a result. These same children are often die-hard football fans for whom football players are important role models.

So whilst the Emirates changing rooms may seem an unusual location to find the Director and royal Patron of the National Literacy Trust, our mission means that we prioritise these kind of partnerships which help us to reach children and families with low literacy.

We devote time to analysing what these audiences enjoy doing. Frequently this means analysing commercial and media consumption data to identify partners who can effectively carry our messages about literacy, including resources and tips. In 2011 we worked with Take A Break magazine, Iceland Supermarkets and Haven Holidays who handed out books to thousands of families. Last summer, if you stopped off in a Little Chef you would have found a family book corner and Roald Dahl napkins to collect. At the beginning of this year we launched a ground-breaking new partnership with McDonald's who are handing out Michael Morpurgo’s books to millions of their customers.

In many ways the more unlikely the situation we find ourselves in, the more likely we are to be successful at reaching the families most in need of literacy support. The National Literacy Trust always has and always will work in schools and libraries. However our approach to partnership marketing is taking us to the heart of communities and families where book ownership is low, literacy levels are poor and reading for pleasure is unlikely to happen.

I can’t pretend that my training as a children’s librarian has prepared me for the changing room of the Emirates, or even an afternoon watching wrestling at a Haven Holidays camp. Yet in many ways it is a natural continuation of every teacher and librarian’s work to promote literacy in communities where we can impact the most.