Universities across Leicester and Leicestershire are backing a national campaign to encourage more young people to read by hosting a series of literary events for the community throughout March.
The Go All In campaign has been created in collaboration with the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust and will support the Government’s Year of Reading national initiative.
Credit: Goallin.org.uk
It’s hoped that the campaign will combat a long-term decline in reading among children, young people and adults across the UK. According to statistics from the National Literacy Trust, only one in three children and young people say they enjoy reading, with participation in daily reading falling to under 21 per cent.
To help drive the initiative, De Montfort University, Loughborough University, and the University of Leicester – which forms the Universities Partnership – are hosting festivals, exhibitions and book swaps throughout March and the rest of the year.
The University of Leicester will be hosting its annual free book festival, Literary Leicester, from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21 March.
Across the four-day festival, more than 15 events will take place across the city, including creative writing workshops and lectures from Sunday Times bestseller and internationally renowned crime writer Sophie Hannah, as well as award-winning author and novelist Louise Doughty.
On Thursday 12 March, DMU will be hosting a book swap in the foyer of its Kimberlin Library, off Mill Lane, which is open to all staff, students and members of the library.
Outside the city, Loughborough University is hosting a year-long calendar of events and literary displays at its Pilkington Library to help the community discover, or rediscover, the joy of reading.
From Monday 9 March to Friday 20 March, the university’s Year of Reading display will showcase its staff and student recommendations and popular titles from its leisure reading collection before making way for an exhibition of the biggest books to hit Hollywood and make it to the big screen in April.
Sarah Thomson, Principal Partnerships Officer at DMU, said: “Reading unlocks worlds of possibilities, from faraway adventures in strange new worlds to practical advice for helping people navigate their careers or learn new skills.
“As universities committed to helping Leicestershire thrive, I feel it’s our duty to empower as many people as we can to read. By supporting the Year of Reading and working together with our friends at the University of Leicester and Loughborough University, I hope we can inspire more young people to pick up a book and fall in love with reading.”
Universities Partnership was launched in 2022 to enable the three universities to work together for the benefit of the Leicestershire and Rutland communities.
The partnership, which also includes Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council, enables non-students living or working in Leicester, the wider county or Rutland to borrow up to 10 books at a time from any of the universities’ libraries.
Last year, as part of a University Partnership initiative to make reading more accessible, the trio of universities opened up their campus libraries to the public for the first time.
Posted on Tuesday 10 March 2026