COWDENBEATH Library has announced their support of Good Morning Britain’s ‘Just Read’ campaign, to encourage parents and carers to spend ten minutes reading with their children every day.

The campaign will see the library giving away 50 copies of bestselling book Diary of a Wimpy Kid to local children on Saturday.

Cowdenbeath Library is one of 200 libraries across the UK taking part in the ‘Just Read’ giveaway which is supported by national charity, The Reading Agency, and children’s publisher Puffin.

The campaign comes as a coalition of leading charities, teachers, parents and businesses, have come together to form the group called ‘Read On. Get On.’ The coalition has launched a national mission to support parents and teachers to get all 11 year-olds reading well by 2025.

Read On. Get On., has published a report that reveals hundreds of thousands of kids are leaving school without adequate reading skills and that one in seven children aged 8-11 years do not own a book of their own at home.

The giveaway will highlight how vital libraries are for the nation’s literacy and that books like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ can really help children on their reading journey.

Millions of children are readers because of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Jeff Kinney’s work is perfect for turning reluctant readers on to books. With 50% words and 50% cartoons, the books are 100% hilarious and children agree – Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck was voted by children as ‘Favourite Book’ in the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

Later on in the week, Good Morning Britain will aim to set a Guinness World Record for the most number of parents reading with their children in the same place, at the same time.

As well as the giveaway, children who visit the library on 13th September will be able to enjoy Wimpy Kid themed fun and games. ‘Just Read’ looks to highlight how parents and carers can promote the simple but invaluable activity of reading to youngsters.

Helen Stevenson, Facilities and Services Supervisor at Cowdenbeath Library commented, “This is an awesome initiative and we are privileged to have been chosen to represent Fife Cultural Trust Libraries. “Our aim is to encourage all children and families that reading is fun and by doing so we are fostering a life long love of reading that can be beneficial to their vocabulary, imagination and achievement.” This campaign follows a wonderful summer of reading in Fife as an estimated 5000 children took part in the Summer Reading Challenge.