39% of 15-year-olds in the Netherlands don’t achieve a basic level of reading proficiency. Consequently, they lack the literary skills needed to participate well in society. This is one of the outcomes of the PISA study (Programme for International Student Assessment), that is published every three years. Because of this further decline in reading proficiency, the KB and the Leescoalitie (‘Reading Coalition’) call on politicians to strengthen the culture of reading across society.
According to the PISA rapport, Dutch students score significantly lower on reading proficiency than their peers from other countries that participated in this study. Girls score a little higher than boys, but girls’ reading proficiency is also declining.
Ronald Huizer, member of the KB's Board of Directors responsible for reading and digital literacy: “Young people in the Netherlands now score below the average for participating countries in reading skills. 39% per cent no longer achieve the basic level. This downward trend shows that we owe it to our young people to help them develop this basic skill and improve their prospects. The decline weakens our country’s earning capacity. Even with limited resources, it should be a policy priority to tackle this issue.”
A call to politicians
To improve young people’s reading skills, the Leescoalitie is calling on politicians to commit to strengthening the reading culture in the Netherlands. It is asking the government to allocate €2 million on Budget Day (Prinsjesdag). This would enable the Leescoalitie to continue its successful campaign to promote reading, ‘Those who read have a good story to tell’. Through this, the government invests in a positive approach that encourages reading and learning to read across society. In its report, PISA also emphasises that improving reading proficiency requires collective effort. It cites the campaign as an example of a societal initiative to achieve this.
Read the appeal from the Leescoalitie.
Working together to build a literate society
The KB, public libraries and many partners have been working together for years to promote reading amongst young people. They committed to this in the Netwerkagenda, or Network Agenda, under the social objective 'Literate society'. Promoting reading and digital literacy is also one of the KB’s strategic objectives.
The Library at School
One of the programmes through which the KB works with libraries and schools to promote reading amongst schoolchildren is the Library at School (de Bibliotheek op school; dBos). Investment in expanding the number of school libraries continues. The KB and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have recently published the 2025 library statistics that show the number of dBos-sites in the Netherlands.
The role of the Online Library
The Online Library also plays an important role in building a literate society. This KB service offers free membership to young people under 18. The online Library has a separate section for children and young people, with a wide range of e-books and audiobooks. Jeugdbibliotheek.nl also gives them access to Comics Plus, where they can read thousands of English-language comics, graphic novels and manga online.
Improving young people’s prospects
Ronald Huizer welcomes all these partnerships, but stresses that more needs to be done: “Libraries and their partners work hard every day to improve young people’s reading skills. They are doing a brilliant job. But the PISA study shows that more is needed. We hope that the Leescoalitie’s appeal will make it clear to the government that additional investment is needed to improve young people’s prospects. That is essential if we are to create the literate society we are all working towards.”
