Premier League Reading Stars
Premier League Reading Stars (PLRS) is a reading motivation project, which harnesses the power of football to encourage families to enjoy reading. It targets those hard to reach groups in society who may not have shown an interest in reading, but who do have a passion for football. Each of the 20 Premier League teams nominates a 'Reading Champion' to recommend his favourite book. Each Club then adopts a maximum of three public libraries who then host a reading club based on the book choices of all 20 Premier League Reading Champions. Both the children and parents attend the reading club and enjoy a visit to a bookshop, as well as a session with a published football author. Some lucky readers may also get to meet their favourite team's Reading Champion.
You can find out more from the PLRS site, where you can download images of all our Reading Champions with their favourite books. You can also access Champions’ choices from previous years.
Premier League Reading Stars is a unique partnership between the Football Foundation, the Premier League and the National Literacy Trust. Additional funding comes from Arts Council England.
Lots of schools and libraries ask us if they can run PLRS and we are investigating opportunities for this. The PLRS Challenge, a free resource available to all schools and libraries, is now running for a second year. You can request this free resource on the PLRS site, where you can also download a toolkit, known as the 'PLRS Tactics Book', which allows you to deliver your own version of PLRS.
SPL Reading Stars
In 2009 Reading Stars, funded by Scottish Government, was delivered in partnership with the Scottish Premier League (SPL), and this partnership has now been extended into 2010. As with PLRS, player quotes and other resources can be downloaded. Visit www.thebigplus.com for more information.
