As reading scores fall, Utah author works to inspire young readers

SALT LAKE CITY — New data shows that about half of Utah students struggle to read at grade level.

Data from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows that, in some areas, two-thirds of students can’t read proficiently.

It points out that reading is a foundational skill and that the current trends, which show a steep drop in reading skills, will negatively impact students.

“Students who don’t read on grade level by third grade are four times more likely not to graduate from high school,” said Andrea Brandley from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

Utah author Shannon Hale is working to change that. Hale was chosen by the Utah School Library Association to receive the Utah Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Medal.

Hale is a New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor-winning author whose work spans picture books, middle-grade novels, young adult fantasy and graphic novels. A native and resident of Utah, Hale grew up filling notebooks with stories and dreaming of becoming a writer. She graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in English and later earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Montana, according to USLA.

“It’s a really wonderful vote of confidence from the Utah school librarians that selected me to represent them in the next two years,” Hale said. “I get to travel all over the state and meet lots of kids who have never had an author visit before.”

Hale will travel the state over the next two years, presenting to and visiting with young readers and writers to inspire a love of reading.

Hale said that research through USLA shows that when an author visits a school, it gets kids excited about reading.

“The more kids read for fun, the better their skills are, and the better their skills are, the more they can handle anything in life,” Hale said. 

Like the Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, the Utah Ambassador is appointed to “raise [state] awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people,” according to USLA.

Libraries are a great source for students and families to grow lifelong literacy, Hale said.

“It’s so hard to be parents. I’m a mom of four, and I know how hard it is. There are so many distractions and screens,” said Hale. “The more you take your kids to the library, let them pick books that are exciting to them, the more likely they are to be invested in reading.”

Hale emphasized the difficulty parents have with managing their children’s screen time. 

“Kids have screens everywhere and unfortunately, what we’re seeing is a lot of time spent attacking reading and censorship and book banning when there are screens and [the] internet out there,” Hale said. “Books are not the problem when there’s an internet in the back pockets of most teenagers.” 

Getting kids excited about reading is the key to improving literacy, Hale shares.

“The more we can get kids back in the library and reading, the more excited they are about reading, the more accessible it is, the less they’re going to be on screens,” said Hale

Gov. Cox holds a literacy and reading symposium

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox held a literacy summit on Jan. 6 and emphasized literacy’s importance, highlighting AI concerns and policy. The symposium brought together educators, community partners and policymakers for conversations about early literacy, the role of families and policy tools that can help more students build strong reading skills.

“Social media, gaming, all of the things involved with those phones and the attention it takes away from reading,” Cox said. “Reading becomes exciting again when you don’t have that dopamine fix right in front of you all of the time that’s trying to steal your attention away from you.”

He plans to propose policy changes to make reading his top priority during the upcoming legislative session.

“This is a policy failure. It’s one of the few areas where we actually can change it for almost every kid. Right now, we know that just under half of our students are reading at grade level by third grade,” Cox said. “We know that with the right interventions, with the right resources, with parental involvement, we can actually move that number to 99% of kids. Every kid can learn how to read. They just need the right attention and the right opportunities.”

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Schools that want an author visit can visit the USLA website to apply.