The count down is on! Take a look at the latest National Year of Reading newsletter to get a snapshot of recent and upcoming activities.
Previous newsletters can be found on our news page.
January 2012 Newsletter
January 31, 2012National Year of Reading Launch
January 18, 2012The launch of the National Year of Reading is just a few weeks away and libraries, bookshop and community groups around the country are planning their 14 February activities. At the National Library in Canberra, our event will be hosted by the ABC's Jennifer Byrne, and we'll have some very special guests, including our patron, much loved writer and actor William McInnes, and award-winning children's author - and Children's Laureate - Boori Monty Pryor
ReadSpeaker, The Voice of the Web!
January 17, 2012The National Year of Reading is proud to announce ReadSpeaker as our latest partner. ReadSpeaker provides websites and mobile apps with a speech engine that turns any text on the screen into natural sounding speech at the click of a mouse. The ReadSpeaker speech engine, now available on our website, incorporates text highlighting of each word being spoken. This encourages readers to associate the sound of a word with the word itself thus enhancing learning to read outcomes.
Australia Day Ambassadors
January 16, 2012We are pleased to report that several National Year of Reading ambassadors have also been selected as Australia Day ambassadors. This includes Bryce Courtenay, Gerrard Gossens, Ben O'Donoghue and Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex. See the Australia Day website for more details.
Big Names Sign on as ACT National Year of Reading Ambassadors
December 22, 2011ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Katy Gallagher, today announced the ACT Ambassadors for the National Year of Reading and expressed how pleased she was to be able to take up the role as Primary Ambassador. Select this link to see the Chief Minister's full announcement.
Profiles of the ACT ambassadors can be found on our website.
National Year of Reading Takes Off Across the State
December 16, 2011Queensland Arts Minister Rachel Nolan will join a host of famous Queenslanders as ambassadors for the National Year of Reading in 2012. Ms Nolan announced the special ambassadors who will be promoting reading across Queensland next year alongside the State Library of Queensland and Queensland public libraries.
December Newsletter Out Now!
December 13, 2011Our December newsletter features news about Australia's first Children's Laureates, plans for the launch of the National Year of Reading on 14th February 2012, an update on the 'Our Story' voting and more....
Download your copy and join the mailing list to automatically receive future issues.
Earlier editions of the newsletter are available on our wiki.
Bookstores and Libraries - Register today!
November 24, 2011There are some great benefits to be had by registering your library or bookstore with the National Year of Reading! Registered outlets will hear about promotions, free, downloadable materials, and advance information about national events. All you have to do is complete the registration form .
Listen to the winning stories
November 23, 2011"It's never too late ... to learn to read" is about adult Australians who struggle with reading and this week everyone will benefit from the release of recorded short stories, which dramatise the inner lives of people learning to read as adults.
Listen to the stories...November Newsletter Now Available
November 22, 2011Press Release: Be in at the start of Australia's biggest book group
October 18, 2011Australia's National Year of Reading 2012 starts here with the opportunity for you to vote for the book that you think should represent your state or territory as one of the eight on our national recommended reading list for 2012.
Shortlisted titles for "Our Story" announced.
Download the full media release.
October Newsletter Out Now
October 17, 2011Download our September Newsletter
September 16, 2011The September newsletter includes some wonderful pictures taken at our soft launch at Bialik College, details of the Love2read twitter reading group, news from the Indigenous Literacy Day festival, and the Adult Learners' Week short story writing competion results.
You can download the pdf version and join our mailing list to receive future issues. Please forward the newsletter to your friends and colleagues.
August Newsletter
August 31, 2011The August newsletter contains information about the soft launch of the National Year of Reading, some very special famous faces joining us as official ambassadors, one very unique library, and plenty of other information to browse through!
You can download the pdf version here and join our mailing list here to receive future issues. We encourage you to forward the newsletter to your friends and colleagues.
Australian Government announces $1.3M funding for the National Year of Reading 2012
August 07, 2011
During the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards event at the National Library of Australia, in Canberra today, Prime Minister Julia Gillard formally announced the Australian Government’s support for the National Year of Reading 2012 and funding of $1.3million through the Office for the Arts and Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Minister for the Arts Simon Crean said the National Year of Reading is an excellent initiative to highlight the importance of reading as a life skill and as a source of enjoyment. “I commend the libraries and library associations, including the Australian Library and Information Association, for working to inspire a love of reading in Australians. The benefits of improved literacy are significant for both the community and workplace productivity,” Mr Crean said.
There are 15 organisations behind the National Year of Reading, including all the state libraries, territory libraries and public library associations across Australia. Although libraries are the driving force behind the campaign, partnerships are being forged with writers, publishers, booksellers, schools, government, media and the companies behind some of Australia’s most famous household name brands.
The founders recognise the great work that Australian reading promotion and literacy organisations already do and hope that by attracting further attention to the issue for a 12–month period, there can be a step-change in people’s awareness of the enormous value of books and the joy of reading.
July newsletter now available!
July 29, 2011William McInnes is our patron
February 14, 2011Award-winning actor and bestselling author William McInnes has accepted the role of patron of the National Year of Reading 2012. Download the media release here.
National Year of Reading 2012 wiki
February 14, 2011Visit our new wiki to find lots of resources and a guide that gives you all the background information.
Flood Disaster
January 20, 2011Our thoughts are with colleagues, partners and friends in Queensland, country Victoria and Western Australia. Everyone we've spoken to has been amazingly stoic in the face of natural disasters on an unprecedented scale.
Prime Minister's Literary Awards
November 08, 2010Congratulations to the Prime Minister's Award winners:
Children's fiction winner
Star Jumps by Lorraine Marwood
Young Adult fiction winner
Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God by Bill Condon
Fiction winner
Dog Boy by Eva Hornung
Non-fiction winner
The Colony: A History of Early Sydney by Grace Karskens
SPA Book of the Year Awards
October 19, 2010Speech Pathology Australia announced the 2010 Book of the Year Award winners today. Congratulations to all the winners! The awards raise awareness of the role speech pathologists have in assisting language development and literacy skills in people of all ages, and recognise the best books for language development.
See the poster for the 2010 winners, and visit the website for further information.
International Literacy Day
September 08, 2010To mark International Literacy Day 2010, the National Year of Reading has released an email signature - head over to our Reading Professionals page to download it and use it as you like!
