The Reading Agency is an independent charity in the United Kingdom. Registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, its mission is to inspire more people to read more, encourage them to share their enjoyment of reading with others and celebrate the difference that reading makes to all of our lives. The charity has a close partnership with public libraries because of their vital role in creating equal access to reading.
The Reading Agency is one of the eight founder organisations that have come together at the Free Word Centre in London and receives core funding from Arts Council England. It works with every UK local authority and also reaches readers through publishers, workplaces, schools, colleges, prisons and youth services.
The Reading Agency runs a number of high profile national initiatives including the UK’s largest reading promotion, the Summer Reading Challenge. Since the creation of the Summer Reading Challenge, it has become an annual part of the long holidays for more than 750,000 children aged 4–11.
The Reading Agency also runs Chatterbooks, a children's reading group programme; Reading Hack for young people; Reading Ahead and Quick Reads for adults who don't regularly read for pleasure; World Book Night; and Reading Well Books on Prescription, which offers self-help reading for common mental health issues, and people with dementia and their carers, through public libraries.