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Reading Agency launches The Big Jubilee Read
The Reading Agency is marking the Queen’s Jubilee this year by showcasing 70 books published across the Commonwealth during her reign, as part of a campaign to “celebrate the joy of reading and the power that it has to connect people across the country and among nations”.
The Big Jubilee Read will see titles chosen from an expert panel of librarians, booksellers and literature specialists. There will be 10 books chosen for each decade of the Queen’s reign, which will be announced in April.
The campaign, which has received £185,000 in funding from Arts Council England, will be delivered with public libraries, reading groups, publishers, bookshops, and authors. There will also be programming across the BBC. Organisers said the project will help "celebrate the joy of reading and the power that it has to connect people across the country and among nations”.
Karen Napier, c.e.o. at The Reading Agency said: "We are thrilled to have libraries collaborating with us on the Big Jubilee Read to bring the book list to life in the heart of communities and are grateful to members of the public who have put titles forward for this exciting national moment.”
Suzy Klein, head of arts and classical music TV at the BBC, added: “Nineteen years on from the Big Read, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee feels like the perfect opportunity to foreground some of the greatest writing from across the Commonwealth in our Big Jubilee Read.
“The list of 70 books – one for each year of Elizabeth II’s reign – is a real opportunity to discover stories from across continents and taking us through the decades, books that we might never have otherwise read, and reading authors whose work deserves a spotlight to be shone on it. It’s a really exciting way to share the love of books with readers of all ages, and to give book groups and book borrowers a plethora of great titles to try, borrow, share and discuss.”
Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers Association, said she was “really looking forward to seeing the innovative ways in which bookshops across the UK will embrace the campaign" while Isobel Hunter, chief executive of Libraries Connected, said the campaign will help “libraries to introduce readers to writers they might not have come across before".
