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STORIES START HERE
2026 is The National Year of Reading.
STORIES START HERE is The Story Museum’s year-long celebration of reading for pleasure. The Story Museum is aiming to be the beating heart of the National Year of Reading: a creative hub where reading bursts off the page into immersive experiences, playful installations, live events, and digital exploration. We’re inviting everyone to reconnect with the joy of reading; in whatever form it takes.
In Autumn of 2025, The National Literacy Trust found that children’s reading for pleasure rates had dropped dramatically, with only 1 in 3 (32.7%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy reading in their free time; and only 1 in 5 (18.7%) say they read something daily in their free time.
In a joint mission, the Department for Education and National Literacy Trust have announced 2026 as the National Year of Reading with a new campaign: Go All In.
We at The Story Museum are pledging our commitment to supporting this campaign.
STORIES START HERE is The Story Museum’s response to the National Literacy Trust’s findings, and a continuation and expansion of the work we are already doing with schools, groups and communities.
Stories are how we understand ourselves, and others. With stories, we build empathy and understanding; they help us cultivate a sense of belonging, emotional resilience, and joy. The Story Museum’s mission is, and always has been, to enrich lives through the power of stories. We know that children and young people benefit from sharing and learning stories, building increased oracy and communication skills. Our experience tells us that stories in any form not only sow the seeds for a life-long love of reading, but they empower young people to advocate for themselves – to tell their own story.
Read on to find out what The Story Museum has planned for this exciting year ahead.
Digital Launch: 1001 Stories
1001 Stories: We’ll be launching a brand-new digital resource that serves as the online home of The Story Museum Collection. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, 1001 Stories is the digital treasure chest of The Story Museum – an ever-growing online collection celebrating the power of stories in all their forms. This exciting new digital resource for parents, carers and teachers invites everyone to dive into the joy of stories, discover new writers and stories, and share the tales that shape who we are. 1001 Stories is a story-finding resource for educators, parents and carers, showcasing The Story Museum’s collection of great stories to grow up with. The site provides a synopsis of each story, links to supporting resources which might include a recording of an oral story, a lesson plan or an activity to try at home, or ways to further explore a story and/or author. The site also features creative responses from children and young people such as zines, podcasts and book reviews. Where relevant, stories link to objects and displays featured in the physical Museum. You’ll find exclusive content there too – meet authors such as Joseph Coelho, Wendy Shearer, Caz Lester and more, who are all there to help you find story inspiration, whether it’s how to share poetry with children, or how to bring stories to life.
Learning and Participation
The Story Museum’s Schools programme is a vital part of the Museum’s Day to day, attracting around 12,000 pupils a year. 2000 of those pupils are part of the Spellbound Schools programme, a funded literacy, PSHE and creative learning programme for primary schools in Oxfordshire.
Our expert learning team design sessions that enhance literacy and oracy skills, whilst engaging children and young people with collaborative play. The team also supports teachers and adult learners with a range of CPD sessions, and our Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils scheme, founded by Cheltenham Literary Festival.
Youth Collections Ambassadors
Our collection is regularly reviewed by our Youth Collections Ambassadors & Collections Club - young volunteers with a passion for stories who shape the museum’s collections. We rely on our Youth Collections Ambassadors for their valuable insight, keeping the Museum’s collections relevant and fresh. If you or someone you know loves stories in any form who might like to review collections content, please get in touch!
Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils
Teachers as Reading Role Models: Igniting a Love of Children’s Literature!
Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils is a scheme for teachers, designed to spark their own love of children’s literature—because when teachers read, children read!
It’s a project designed to inspire teachers to read for pleasure while deepening their knowledge and enthusiasm for high-quality children’s books.
Each teacher in the group becomes a reading role model for their class of 30 students and a “reading for pleasure” champion across their whole school. Using Aidan Chambers’ Tell ME Pedagogy, the project empowers teachers to review and enhance their school’s reading curriculum and influence the reading habits of the children they teach. Research shows that children who read for pleasure enjoy higher levels of well-being and greater engagement in learning. This project, founded by the Cheltenham Literary Festival, proudly supports the National Year of Reading.
Extreme Reading Adventures
Bringing the Joy of Reading to 8–11 Year Olds!
Part of our Spellbound Schools project, this scheme sparks a love of reading for pleasure among targeted 8–11-year-olds, helping children - identified by their schools as ‘reluctant readers’ - connect emotionally with books through a series of sensory themed activities. Across 6 sessions, children are introduced to 6 new books in fun, interactive sessions, with activities that explore story themes. At the end of the programme each participant is gifted a booked based on their interests.
Launched in 2015, parents and teachers have seen children’s attitudes to reading transformed, with reading becoming a source of joy and curiosity.
For 2026, we’ll be expanding the successful Oxford-based programme by bottling the best of Extreme Reading and making online resources available.
New Story Space: Celebrating 25 Years of Noughts and Crosses
New Story Space - Noughts & Crosses
We will be marking the 25th year of Malorie Blackman’s seminal novel with a redevelopment of a themed story space in our Enchanted Library.
As a landmark novel in Young Adult literature with a powerful narrative on race and power, Noughts & Crosses aligns closely with the Museum’s mission to explore a diverse range of writers and stories.
Lead artist Mohi Rezaei has collaborated with young people and artists from the Black Excellence Project and Kuumba Nia Artists to design the space. Together, the group have explored the story, meeting Malorie Blackman and considered ways to bring the novel to life in an immersive setting.
The new Noughts & Crosses space will be unveiled on 16th February 2026.
In partnership with Penguin Random House and Oxford Brookes University
[Malorie Blackman photograph by Mira Morrison]
Mystery Academy: A School for Young Detectives
In the Summer of 2026, we’ll reveal a new, interactive exhibition - Mystery Academy: A School for Young Detectives - that will invite visitors on immersive journey into the thrilling world of crime and detective stories — from the classic roots of whodunnits to modern page turners. Visitors will step into the world of the mystery novel and become mini-sleuths, following clues through story-themed zones packed with interactive sets, puzzles, and hidden surprises.
The exhibition has been designed by Story Curators, a team of young designers aged from 11-16 working with exhibition and design professionals at the Story Museum. It marks the culmination of a three-year programme and is a heartfelt celebration of young peoples’ creativity, love of stories and offers a chance to play, imagine, and solve together.
Join Us!
We are very excited for this incredible year ahead, celebrating the joy of reading. Our expertise lies in tapping into young people’s curiosity, passions and interests as a pathway to reading. We hope this year will inspire everyone to think about reading differently – as a daily pleasure, to be enjoyed by everyone at any age, and in any form.
BE PART OF THE STORY
We hope you’ll feel part of the story too!
- Click to register your interest in 1001 Stories
- Share what you’re reading – whether it’s an audio book, picture book or graphic novel - on Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag #storiesstarthere. Don’t forget to tag us too!