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Child Reading Drops Globally; Tibet Library Project Offers Hope

7/7/2026

46 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

In 2025, 37% of U.S. 9- and 13-year-olds read for fun, down from 53% and 27% in 2012.
In the UK, one in three 8- to 18-year-olds read—a 36% drop—prompting Patrice Lawrence to warn schools treat books as assessments.
Sun Peng’s October 2022 launch of the “Library in the Sky” project in Nyima county, Xizang, led to supplies three years later for one middle and 13 primary schools with reading zones beside desks.

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Story summary

In 2025, 37% of U.S. 9- and 13-year-olds read for fun, down from 53% and 27% in 2012.
In the UK, one in three 8- to 18-year-olds read—a 36% drop—prompting Patrice Lawrence to warn schools treat books as assessments.
Sun Peng’s October 2022 launch of the “Library in the Sky” project in Nyima county, Xizang, led to supplies three years later for one middle and 13 primary schools with reading zones beside desks.