Boosting Childhood Literacy

United Way of the UK, based in London, is working to give every child the opportunity to succeed. But some 800,000 children in the UK don’t have books of their own at home, and 20 percent of primary schools don’t have libraries.

That’s why United Way started its Reading Oasis program, to address early childhood literacy challenges and give more children the opportunity to develop a love for reading. This positively affects children's ability and potential throughout school and beyond.

The program focuses on children from disadvantaged backgrounds as they face the highest risk of being caught in a poverty cycle. Those with poor literacy levels have a higher likelihood of experiencing financial instability and unemployment later in life.

The United Way Reading Oasis places books into the hands of disadvantaged children through donating an entire library to schools that lack reading resources, where 30% or more of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Designed in collaboration with teachers, educational experts and children, every Reading Oasis includes:

• A safe, inviting space within the school where children can enjoy reading. The library has specially designed furniture to encourage children to pick up a book, sit down, and read.
• Hundreds of new books from United Way’s partner, Scholastic.
• A book for every child to take home and keep.
• A book a month for a year, for every child at the school nursery.
• Resources for parents, childcare providers and teachers with tips on reading with their children.

The Reading Oasis program has already installed more than 20 school libraries, donated more than 20,000 books and impacted more than 4,500 children across the UK. At the Nightingale Primary School Oasis the percentage of children reaching expected standard reading in their SAT results in 2023 was 93%, compared with 60% before the opening of the library.