By Sheila Mckenzie-
Sofia Akial (pictured) is The Eye Of Media’s World Reading Day’s star of world reading after it was revealed she gave away thousands of books for free.
The BBC’s coverage of world reading day was the most productive, beating other publications that chose to focus on people wearing costumes of their fictional character , rather than focusing on the overall benefits of reading, which is most beneficial for youngsters.
The essence of children dressing up in their favourite characters was essentially to encourage reading in children, but no particular focus was drawn to this important objective.
The 28 year old writer and cultural historian, Sofia Akel says she has always loved reading, and she would often find herself in the library near the East London estate where she grew up, explaining that reading helped nurture her mind as a child, this being a motivator for her to help other youngsters nurture their minds.
A high percentage of youngsters in their 20’s in the Uk do not read at all for a combination of reasons. Some associate reading with academics, and are turned off from the healthy practise because they did poorly at school as teenagers, and do not consider reading as being for them because they lack the confidence to engage with books.
Others simply have a weak foundation, that they believe they will struggle to sustain understanding an interest in reading, especially if the books they have been momentarily exposed to are advanced for them. Most East London youngsters, especially males, spend more of their time socialising and experimenting with drugs, chasing money or women, or just basically being idle, without a focus or drive.
Sophia created the Free Books Campaign – a non-profit company dedicated to getting books by authors of colour to those who can’t afford them. It is unclear why she chose authours of colour, though believed her aim was to help ethnic minorities in her community who have a poor reading habit to feel encouraged if they could identify with authours of books.
Newham in London is the most ethnically diverse of all local authorities in England and Wales. Since launching in 2020, she has donated 6,000 books to people across the UK and Ireland.
“[Reading] should be something that everyone is able to participate in, the same way that most people would hopefully agree that education shouldn’t be a privilege,” she says.
“Why I can relate is that if I wasn’t able to have access to the library literally on my doorstep, I wouldn’t be where I am now,” says Sofia
“My worldview, my imagination and my vocabulary would have been significantly reduced. “The campaign is built entirely on trust – something Sofia takes pride in.
“All we ask is that you can’t afford or access books yourself,” Sofia says. “I don’t feel that anyone is in a position to tell another person whether or not their claims for affordability or accessibility are valid.
“I’ve known from growing up what it’s like to be on that other side.
“Having these things accessible, where you don’t have to jump through so many hoops just to get access to a book is really important.”
Most primary and secondary schools in the Uk encourage children to read, and also allocate reading time for them in the library during school hours, which is very good for children. The exposure to various books opens their minds and improves their literacy skills.
However, once children get to secondary school, their desire to develop a lifestyle of reading often depend on how well they are doing in school, as well as their family environment at home. Many youths are also not motivate to read when they don’t have peers who read or value reading.
Young people undoubtedly need more encouragement to read and vary their sources of books to develop their intellect and broaden their ideas, without necessarily associating it with how well or badly they performed at school. Reading can provide a useful opportunity for youngsters to re-educate themselves, if they have the patience to carefully learn from every sentence they engage with.
Parents have a role to play in fostering a healthy reading habit with their children right from an early age in primary school, by reading with them often, and having a reading habit themselves.
More emphasis on reading will significantly help our youths gain direction.
Greater investment should be put into summer reading clubs for young people, with professional educators overseeing it and ensuring it does not develop into a social gathering, but rather substantial efforts are put into engaging adult youths who have lost any appetite for reading to develop it again.