“We must make this country a happier place for children to grow up in and we must not make it harder for them to go to a library than it is at the moment. The most common ­tribute to the public library is when ­somebody says: “It opened up the world for me when I was a child. I want that sort of experience for every child.The sort of reading that really takes place here – the sort that really makes a reader out of us – is reading for pleasure, which government after ­government has paid lip service to while working to prevent it. The benefits of reading for pleasure include improvement in writing, in text comprehension, in grammar and in breadth of vocabulary. It develops a positive attitude to reading, which in turn leads to higher achievement. It increases general knowledge, encourages a better ­understanding of other cultures as well as providing a greater insight into human nature. Not reading for the sake of passing a test, but reading for pleasure, is what does that. Philip Pullman