In an age where screens usually do the talking, thousands of readers across B.C. will be turning pages together instead. The Great Big Buddy Read returns on Thursday, Jan. 29, inviting students, families and community members across Greater Victoria to pair up and share stories as part of a provincewide celebration during Family Literacy Week. The initiative challenges the idea that reading is a quiet, solitary pursuit, instead reframing it as something social, joyful and shared. “Screens provide content, but reading buddies provide connection,” said Sean Rodman, literacy outreach coordinator. “By making literacy a social event, we’re competing with screens by offering something much more rewarding: real-world connections – between the buddies and with the author of the book.” The event encourages children in kindergarten through Grade 5 to read alongside a buddy, whether that’s an older student, parent, grandparent, teacher, librarian or friend, for 20 to 30 minutes on Jan. 29. Participants are also invited to take part in optional creative activities, from building blanket forts to dressing up as favourite book characters. This year marks the first time the event has been locally coordinated across southern Vancouver Island, with literacy organizations teaming up to promote participation in School Districts 61, 62 and 63. “The Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy began the event in 2019, and continues to run it as a provincewide initiative,” Rodman said. “Locally, this is the first year that literacy organisations have teamed up to promote the event here on southern Vancouver Island.” Those local partners include Story Studio, a charity focused on empowering youth through storytelling, and Saanich Peninsula Literacy, which works to strengthen literacy services and awareness across the community. Rodman said the long-term hope is that the Buddy Read becomes a fixture for families and schools. “We hope to see this become an annual event for local schools and families, helping to spotlight the importance and joy that comes about from sharing reading and writing activities,” he said. While schools are central to the initiative, participation extends well beyond the classroom. Families can take part at home, in libraries or anywhere a pair of readers can sit down together. “It’s as simple as sitting down with a youth and reading for 20 minutes on Jan. 29,” Rodman said. “When a child reads with a buddy, the book stops being a chore and becomes a conversation.” Participants on southern Vancouver Island can register online [https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAAMAAHR5bjdUM1BPTVhTUVFQSEwzOTJJNUQzUEJQREVJRi4u&route=shorturl] before Jan. 30 to be entered into a prize draw for classes and groups. There are currently 1,500 kids registerd from more than six schools across Greater Victoria. Even for those outside the region, the message remains the same: grab a book, find a buddy, and read together.
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