Nearly half a million books will be distributed across prisons in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland over the northern autumn, in a campaign backed by Jack Reacher author Lee Child, the Guardian reported.
The Reading Agency charity is delivering it through its Quick Reads programme, according to the Guardian. Prisons will receive copies of 11 short books, chosen with input from prisoners and staff, with a book for every cell and stock for prison libraries.
The programme was announced on Friday 16 October. The Lancashire Evening Post calls it the largest-ever UK prison book-gifting programme.
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The Laureate’s Case
Child is the UK’s first prison reading laureate. He has made between 30 and 40 prison visits since starting the role last year, the Guardian reported.
He said the scheme addresses the revolving door of people leaving prison, struggling outside and returning to custody.
“If we can stop one in 10 of those people from coming back, that would be a major achievement,” Child said, the Guardian reported.
Child said: “It would be good for society as a whole, not just for that individual prisoner and their future employer.”
The Reading Gap
Ministry of Justice statistics for 2024-25 show 65% of initial-assessment results across public prisons in England, taken when people entered custody, were at entry levels 1-3, the Guardian reported. That is below the standard expected of a typical GCSE student.
The Lancashire Evening Post adds that 11% were at Level 2 or above.
Child gave everyday examples. “You can’t read a lease if you want to rent a flat; you can’t deal with utilities or a TV licence if you can’t read the official notices.”
Short, Not Simple
Child said one of the most common explanations he heard from people who did not read was that the books they were given at school were boring, the Guardian reported.
Quick Reads are designed to remove some of the barriers that stop adults reading for pleasure, according to the Lancashire Evening Post.
“They are proper books, proper storytellers, and there’s nothing simple or childish about them, they’re just short,” Child said.
Titles include Child’s own High Heat, Leye Adenle’s Cell One, AA Dhand’s Darkness Rising, Lemn Sissay’s memoir My Name Is Why, Andy McNab’s Today Everything Changes and Dr Alex George’s The Mind Manual, the Guardian reported.
“Books should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their circumstances or their previous relationship with reading,” said AA Dhand, whose Darkness Rising is among the books, the Guardian reported.
More Than the Books
The Reading Agency will also run author-led workshops, creative writing activities, content for National Prison Radio and resources for prison libraries, the Guardian reported. The programme is funded by the Henry Smith Foundation.
The Lancashire Evening Post reported that Child visited HMP Preston to mark the delivery of the books. The programme marks the 20th anniversary of Quick Reads and is part of the National Year of Reading 2026, the paper said.
“When we put a book directly into someone’s hands, we are offering more than words on a page,” said Karen Napier, chief executive of the Reading Agency, according to the Guardian.
More books coverage is in prw’s Books & Magazine archive.
Hard on Crime, by the Book
Child also addressed how a scheme like this might be seen. “My point is that no, it’s actually hard on crime. It is focusing on where the budget and attention should really be,” he said, the Guardian reported.
The books are being delivered to prisons in all four UK nations over the northern autumn.
Sources: The Guardian, “Lee Child backs launch of reading scheme to send prisons half a million books”, 16 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/oct/16/lee-child-backs-launch-of-reading-scheme-to-send-prisons-half-a-million-books); Lancashire Evening Post, “Crime author Lee Child visits Preston prison to give away free books”, 16 October 2026 (https://www.lep.co.uk/news/crime-author-lee-child-visits-preston-prison-to-give-away-free-books-9291947)
Photo: Mark Coggins, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lee Child at Bouchercon in October 2010. The Jack Reacher author is the UK’s first prison reading laureate.
