A SCHEME to encourage residents to read more is being unveiled in Winchester on Thursday (July 17).
Entitled Hampshire's Big Read, the launch will feature pupils from the city's Kings' School and civic dignitaries including the county's Lord Lieutenant, Mary Fagan.
It will be taking place at the Gurkha Museum in Peninsula Barracks.
advertisement
The reading campaign will have a military theme, as Hampshire County Council wants as many people as possible to read one book in particular.
It is 'Private Peaceful' by Michael Morpurgo, a novel focusing on a young soldier during the darkest days of World War I.
Its publisher, HarperCollins, has provided the council with several hundred copies. Many will be placed at the authority's libraries across the county.
Some copies will also be given away at Hampshire railway stations and ferry terminals. A few will even be left near popular footpaths to allow walkers to pick them up.
County executive member for recreation, heritage and communities, Cllr Margaret Snaith said: "The aim is to get Hampshire reading. We want as many people as possible to get involved, not only for the pure enjoyment this book offers, but hopefully to inspire people to pick up even more books and read more regularly.
"It has already been proven that reading can improve literacy skills in people of all ages, so I hope this will ignite a new passion for reading amongst the people of Hampshire.
"I would like to say a huge thank you to HarperCollins who have been extremely generous in enabling the library service to have so many copies of 'Private Peaceful' available for loan."
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
