As Geoff Barton argues, it is important to create a culture of reading within schools, and the role of the school library in doing this is important. Data on current reading trends show that the younger one is, the less one tends to read. The latest survey in The Bookseller magazine shows purchases of children’s fiction have fallen by 30 per cent on a year-on-year basis; this large fall in fiction outweighed increased purchases of non-fiction and ebooks by younger readers.

At this year’s London Book Fair, it was argued that the very future of children’s poetry was in question because of a lack of interest among readers and publishers. When young people now read, they tend to prefer prose because poetry is seen as somehow uncool (unless it forms pop music lyrics).

Shouvik Datta, Orpington, Kent.