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allows youngsters to experience owning a book of their very own
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empowers children to develop their love of reading
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encourages children to share their love of reading with family and friends
Why we need
Reading For Pleasure
Young people’s reading enjoyment is at crisis point. The latest research from the National Literacy Trust reveals that children’s reading enjoyment is at the lowest level recorded since 2005. (When records began)
Martin Galway, Head of Schools at the National Literacy Trust says
We need to give children every opportunity possible to fall in love with reading, and to give families and schools the support they need to put reading for enjoyment at the heart of every school and home.”
Sept 2023
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Only 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy reading in their free time
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Only 1 in 5 say they read something daily in their free time
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In 2025, far fewer children and young people receiving free school meals (FSMs) said they had a book of their own compared with their peers who did not receive FSMs.
However, nearly four times as many children and young people with a book of their own at home said they enjoyed reading compared with those without their own book (40.0% vs 11.3%).
How works
1. We receive donations of pre-read books from
Rotary Clubs
Individuals
Soroptimists
Charity Shops
Schools
Libraries
2. We chat with teachers (and children) to find out what types of books they would prefer to receive
(if at all possible)
3. We deliver books to
Nursery schools
Primary Schools
SEN Schools
High Schools
4. Youngsters choose their special book to take home, READ and keep forever
By using Pre-Read books we are helping to protect the environment
Making a single NEW book produces approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions as a 17 mile car journey (The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG)
Worse, when a book reaches landfill, its decomposition emits twice as much greenhouse gas and has a harmful impact on local water systems as when it was made.
When you consider in the UK alone 13 million books are sent to landfill each year, it's easy to see how using pre-read books has a positive influence on the environment (CONFLICT, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE NETWORK ( CODEP )
Pre-read books still have great stories to tell, and whilst we are unable to undo the emissions from their initial production, we can ensure a carbon neutral future by keeping them from needlessly going to waste
Books4School Libraries
Many Schools have very few or even no library books
Other schools have plenty and regularly renew their stocks of books
Rotary Books4School Libraries recycle these unwanted books and share them with schools where the books are needed to establish or enhance the school library
Books that would otherwise be thrown away now have a second chance to Make a Difference in the World
A Message from the youngsters at
Silkmore Primary Academy
Stafford
Rotary Book Box
Our Rotary Book Boxes are placed at the front door of school.
Every evening the doors of the Book Box are opened.
As youngsters are collected from school the children & their parents/carers choose a book TOGETHER.
They take the book home, read it together and keep it forever.
Rotary's Books4Home Brings Joy and Literacy to Staffordshire Prisons!
Working Together With our Partners
Rotary Books4Home is transforming Staffordshire prisons by bringing books to prisoners and their children. What started with donating surplus adult fiction books to HMP Oakwood's library to boost literacy (where the average reading age is just eleven!) has blossomed into something truly special.
Now, Rotary Book Boxes, built by prisoners themselves, are placed in Visits Halls. HMP Oakwood is a training prison and has a Wood Shop where the men produce a whole range of items including … wood sheds.
This innovative collaborative project involving Rotary Books4Home, Prisons, and the Library Service is believed to be a first;
aiming to provide visiting children with the opportunity to choose a book with their parents, read it together, take it home and cherish it.
This is a huge success at HMP Oakwood and has expanding to six more prisons, creating a powerful positive impact on families and literacy in the community.
A book can change a child’s life story
We have so far given
over 230,000
children across Staffordshire, Shropshire and parts of the West Midlands a book of their own to take home, READ and keep forever.
WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE
IN THE WORLD
Working Together With our Partners
Rotary Books4Home
Giving the gift of literacy during the National Year of Reading.
On World Book Day (5th March) 2026 Rotary GB&I launched its national pilot project, Rotary Books4Home Impact Days, to encourage children’s enjoyment of reading and support literacy in the National Year of Reading. This was based on the existing successful Rotary Books4Home project that has run in District 1210 for over a decade.
Rotary clubs and members were asked to collect and donate 200+ good quality books to local schools so that children could have a book of their own to take home and keep. This initiative ran until the end of the summer term, with Impact Days running at the majority of schools for children to attend and choose their book.
Due to the success of this national pilot – with over 16,000 books being donated to children at 73 schools – we are delighted that many clubs and members are keen to continue and develop Rotary Books4Home project work from
September 2026 onwards.
Read the article in Rotary GB&I Magazine August 2026
Read the article in Rotary GB&I Magazine March 2026
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Over 16,000 books distributed
That equates to a total equivalent value of over £100,000 worth of books*.*(Average Sales Price, The Bookseller, September 2025)
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Over 65 Rotary clubs participated
The project was adopted by 67 clubs across Great Britain and Ireland, with over 75% planning to continue the programme in the future.
Rotary GB&I have updated the original project assets for use by all clubs and members for any Rotary Books4Home activity that may be run at any stage during the year.
If you have any questions, or would like more information or support:
email: impactdays@rotarygbi.org You can also contact Alumni 1210 Rotary Books4Home.
