Spotlight on: Chatterbooks
Did you know there’s a reading group for ages 8-12 at every Hackney Library?
Make friends and talk about books at Hackney Libraries
Chatterbooks reading clubs help children build a lifelong reading habit. Because everything changes when we read.
Chatterbooks is run by a librarian at every Hackney library. It is a reading group with a difference: each month we talk about what we’ve been reading, play games and do fun and creative activities all around the wonderful world of books.
“I’ve always been a total bookworm and practically lived in my local library when I was a child. I wish I’d been able to join a Chatterbooks reading group then. It would have been such fun to make new friends and discuss all our favourite books. Lots of members write to me and send me their stories and drawings and book reviews – they obviously love being part of a Chatterbooks group.”
Chatterbook sessions run every month at our libraries. Children are very welcome to join even if they didn’t finish the book of the month – but there might be some spoilers!
When does my local Chatterbooks happen?
Clapton Library
First Thursday of the month 4pm—5pm
Dalston CLR James Library
Last Wednesday of the month 4pm—5pm
Hackney Central Library
Third Thursday of the month 4pm—5pm
Homerton Library
First Wednesday of the month 4pm—5pm
Shoreditch Library
Last Tuesday of the month 4.30pm—6pm
Stamford Hill Library
Third Wednesday of the month 4pm—5pm
National Year of Reading 2026
The National Year of Reading 2026 is the biggest campaign in a generation designed to help more people (re)discover the joy of reading and make it part of their everyday lives.
A Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, the campaign aims to tackle the profound decline in reading enjoyment in the UK and reconnect people of all ages with reading as a relevant and immediately rewarding activity. The campaign asks the nation to Go All In on their passions and interests for 2026 and discover how reading can unlock the things they already love – be that music, football, baking, family-time, sci-fi, or … anything.
Research commissioned by the Literacy Trust shows that reading engagement is fundamental to educational attainment, cognitive development, and lifelong opportunity. Evidence reveals a stark generational decline – meaning it is especially important to encourage our younger readers to find the books they love.
