The Reading Agency launches landmark prison reading campaign celebrating 20 years of Quick Reads during the National Year of Reading.
The campaign is made possible with the generous support of The Henry Smith Foundation during the government-backed National Year of Reading.
Marking the 20th anniversary of its flagship Quick Reads programme, The Reading Agency will work in collaboration with prison partners to deliver 480,000 books into prisons across the UK, ensuring that every person in prison has access to high-quality, accessible reading. The prison campaign forms part of The Reading Agency’s wider ambition to gift one million Quick Reads titles during its 20th anniversary year, ensuring accessible books reach communities and readers who face the greatest barriers to reading.
Thanks to funding from The Henry Smith Foundation, this ambitious campaign will bring Quick Reads directly onto prison wings and into cells, embed reading within education and rehabilitation programmes, and create sustainable reading pathways that continue beyond release.
The campaign comes at a pivotal time. The UK is facing a challenging reading landscape, with reading enjoyment and confidence in decline across all age groups. Research consistently shows that reading for pleasure plays a powerful role in shaping life outcomes. Studies link regular reading with improved literacy, stronger educational attainment, better mental wellbeing and increased social mobility. People in the criminal justice system are particularly affected by reading challenges: Ministry of Justice data shows that 65% of adult prisoners struggle to read unfamiliar text, with significant numbers requiring support to improve literacy and work-related skills.
Inspection bodies have repeatedly highlighted the vital role reading plays in rehabilitation – enabling prisoners to build confidence, develop skills, strengthen family relationships, and prepare for employment.
Launched in 2006, Quick Reads publishes short, compelling books by brilliant (bestselling and emerging) authors, specifically designed for adults who find reading challenging or who struggle with concentration. Over the past two decades, the programme has published 147 titles, sold or gifted more than 5.6 million copies, and generated nearly 6.4 million library loans – providing a vital gateway into reading for people who might otherwise be excluded.
Launching in the autumn, the project will:
- Distribute nearly half a million Quick Reads titles across the prison estate
- Deliver reading packs to people entering and leaving prison to support continuity beyond the prison gates
- Embed Quick Reads within existing prison education and supported reading programmes
- Provide activation toolkits and engagement materials
- Deliver author visits and ambassador events in prisons
- Work with prison leaders and education teams to champion reading for pleasure
The programme aligns with inspectorate recommendations on strengthening reading provision in prisons. A key feature of the campaign will be co-production with people in prison, ensuring that the titles made available reflect their interests, experiences and reading needs, and helping to shape future commissioning.
To mark the 20th anniversary of Quick Reads, The Reading Agency will expand its author ambassador programme in prisons, working with leading writers to inspire reading engagement in prisons. The campaign will also be championed by Lee Child, internationally bestselling author and the UK’s first Prison Reading Laureate, who will support the initiative and contribute a new Quick Read to the programme’s collection, helping bring accessible stories to readers across the prison estate.
Lee Child (pictured), author and Prison Reading Laureate said: “Reading matters in prison. It offers escape, but it also offers something more powerful: focus, confidence and the sense of achievement that comes from finishing a book. Quick Reads are an ideal bridge for people who may have lost the habit of reading or never had the chance to develop it. Short, compelling stories can spark a renewed interest in books — and that spark can lead anywhere. Making sure that every prisoner has access to engaging, well-written books during the National Year of Reading is not just symbolic. It’s practical, purposeful and potentially life-changing.”
Karen Napier MBE, CEO of The Reading Agency, said: “As we celebrate 20 years of Quick Reads, we are proud to place some of the UK’s most marginalised readers at the heart of the National Year of Reading. Reading is a powerful tool for rehabilitation, wellbeing and opportunity. By bringing books onto wings and into cells, and by working in partnership across the prison system, we aim to spark new reading journeys that continue far beyond the prison gates.”