Speeches by Sewards.

“It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard). I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor) on his speech; I will touch on some of the same themes. I am only really going to refer to the tackling state threats Bill today. This new legislation honours Labour’s…”

“I will first ask a general question to all of you: how do libraries work with schools, early years settings and other partners to support reading for pleasure and how could that be improved? My supplementary question is for Isobel, and I will dive straight in with that: research by Libraries Connected has indicated tha…”

“The Booksellers Association, in its evidence to us, has said that schools should buy books from local bookshops. What is your assessment of the cost of that possibility?”

“We have seven minutes for seven questions, so I will combine some and not do all seven. How effectively do schools currently work with authors, booksellers and publishers such as yourselves to encourage reading for pleasure, and what more should they do? That is the general question. I will start with Frank, because I …”

“Thank you all.”

“I have a brief supplementary question for Rebecca. You mentioned BookTok, which is part of TikTok. How confident are you that that is actually inspiring people to read, and people are not just buying books to, say, generate content?”

“That is good to hear. Any further thoughts?”

“Understood; thank you. What is the impact of school visits? What can change? What can help?”

“Understood; thank you. What is the impact of school visits? What can change? What can help?”

“Do you measure them in any way?”

“That is helpful; thank you. Any further thoughts on how schools are working with the organisations I listed before?”

“That is helpful; thank you. Any further thoughts on how schools are working with the organisations I listed before?”

“Very good. That is three down; here are the next two questions from me. We are talking about the National Year of Reading as well, which we know aims to address the long-term decline in reading and enjoyment of it, as I am sure you have heard. What is your view of its effectiveness so far and what needs to be done to m…”

“Buying them in bulk from a wholesaler.”

“Do you sense any resistance from secondary schools to public libraries?”

“Do you measure them in any way?”

“Very good. That is three down; here are the next two questions from me. We are talking about the National Year of Reading as well, which we know aims to address the long-term decline in reading and enjoyment of it, as I am sure you have heard. What is your view of its effectiveness so far and what needs to be done to m…”

“Buying them in bulk from a wholesaler.”

“The Booksellers Association, in its evidence to us, has said that schools should buy books from local bookshops. What is your assessment of the cost of that possibility?”

“Got you. Of course, time pressures exist in primary schools as well, yet the relationship there is described as very strong.”