When I visit a school in a low-resourced context and see its book collection locked up in the principal’s office, my heart hurts. Each inaccessible book represents lost potential for a child to read, learn, be comforted, joyfully engaged and inspired.

The reasons why books are securely out of children’s reach are remarkably universal across contexts: children will spoil or lose them. A scarce resource is a precious one. However, the value of a book is not merely in its existence, but in its active use.

Today, on World Book and Copyright Day, it seems fitting to reflect on how to promote the use of books by children and encourage a love of reading.

Drawing on more than 2 decades of global experience implementing a comprehensive literacy portfolio that includes the explicit instruction of literacy skills in the early grades, establishing school library programs, and publishing children’s literature and instruction materials, 4 key lessons have emerged on how to promote effective book use:

1. Ensure books are within children’s reach.

Unlock the cupboards in the principals’ offices, dust the books and turn an exhibit into a resource. Having access to books is fundamental to using them effectively.

School libraries and classroom reading corners can achieve this by:

• Offering welcoming spaces where books are displayed and within reach of even the youngest users
• Providing time for children to browse and choose books freely
• Having checkout procedures so that books can be borrowed and read in homes and communities.

Establishing a usable book collection for young children requires a change in attitude of the gatekeepers of books. Children benefit from using books even if they’re not yet reading independently. Children can be taught to care for books. And it’s natural for a well-loved book to appear worn or for an occasional book to be lost.

When books are accessible, children use them. Within Room to Read’s early literacy program, more than 6.7 million books were checked out from school libraries by children in 2022, with a global average of 11.4 books borrowed per child and the highest average of 32.9 in Cambodia.

2. Train teachers to do engaging read-alouds and facilitate book discussions with children.

Early grade literacy programs tend to focus on the explicit instruction of literacy skills because there’s a science behind teaching text decoding. However, the art of nurturing a love of reading is an equally important component to quality teaching.

Children in low-resourced contexts often lack personal book collections, which means teachers play a pivotal role in introducing children to the wonder of books. Without librarians on staff, teachers can serve as advocates for reading for pleasure and for the availability of a quality book collection.

Teachers need to be trained to bring a book to life with engaging read-alouds and to facilitate deeper engagement with the content through open-ended questions and book discussions. This training needs to consider that teachers may not have experienced read-alouds or had much exposure to children’s literature themselves.

Whether they are literate or not, caregivers can also be supported to joyfully share books with children. Enthusiasm for books is infectious and children need models who appreciate the magical interaction of well-crafted text, illustrations and design.

3. Advocate for books that are worth reading.

Not all books are created equal. Some books motivate us to read them and others do not. The same applies to children and the teachers who serve them. We sometimes ask teachers for the impossible: to do an engaging read-aloud and facilitate a meaningful discussion with a poor-quality book.

When considering a children’s book collection, we need to advocate for books that are visually appealing, relevant and appropriate for a young child, diverse enough to cater to varied interests, numerous enough to provide opportunities for book choice and of an overall high quality.

4. Create an enabling policy environment for book use.

Policies may not be implemented well or at all, but the existence of policies and standards that promote book use can provide a vision and guidance for implementing effective programming.

In Viet Nam, Room to Read contributed to the development of national library standards. In addition to material and management standards, the national library standards include activities that encourage reading in children.

On World Book Day, we are called to promote the enjoyment of reading and books for good reasons. Children who enjoy reading will read more. And children who read more show gains in background knowledge, language and literacy development, especially economically disadvantaged students.

Ultimately, books offer us all opportunities for delight, adventure, and a wider understanding of the world and our place in it.