Everyone Reads – National Reading Challenge

Reading simply makes life more enjoyable!

We encourage EVERYONE to take part in EVERYONE READS – the national reading game.

At its meeting this week, the Education Committee of the City of Hafnarfjörður drew special attention to the reading competition 'National Reading Contest', organised by the 'Allir lesa' (Everyone Reads) association, which is taking place nationwide from 27 January to Mother's Day on 19 February. The Education Committee encourages residents to form teams and take part, for example, families, colleagues and friends, or sports clubs, and thus support the literacy initiatives of the City of Hafnarfjörður., Reading is the game of life.. The Education Council of Hafnarfjörður will award three prizes to the top-performing teams from Hafnarfjörður, which will be presented at the Children's Book and Film Festival, to be held from 13th – 19th March. The Education Committee calls on the Hafnarfjörður Town Council to form a competition team and take part in the national competition. The Borough of Hafnarfjörður took an active part last year and plans to take an even more active part this year. The National Game is considered to align well with worthy reading projects currently underway in the schools of the City of Hafnarfjörður. This project opens the door to participation from the whole family, recording evening reading with the children, work-related reading, and reading for pure pleasure and enjoyment.

The big day has arrived!

Today, the national reading competition ALL READ starts in Hafnarfjörður. All Read – a national reading competition – is about simply logging your reading. Teams and/or individuals compete, and the time spent reading is measured. At the end, the winning teams are honoured with prizes and awards, as is the individual who spends the most time reading during this period. The individual competition is a new feature this year, so for the first time, it will be clear who the country's top reader is. Each participant can compete both as an individual and as part of a team, or choose only one option. Municipalities compete against each other, and it is interesting to see the breakdown between them. 

All types of books are eligible. It doesn't matter what kind of books you read, or whether you read a printed book, an e-book or an audiobook. This includes all books, for example, fiction, non-fiction, reports or anything else. Read for pleasure while you take part in the reading challenge. 

Who is the game for?

Anyone can form a team, for example at work, in a book club, with a group of friends or with their family. Parents who read to their young children are especially encouraged to form a team with their children and log their reading. One person, the team captain, creates a team on the website and adds other team members. Others can also find the team and join it. The teams that spend the most time reading will be the winners.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Who can take part?

Allir lesa is, as the name suggests, open to everyone. Anyone can find a team and take part. It is also possible to compete as an individual. You can register at any time during the competition. 

How do I register? On the Allir lesa homepage, click the „Log in“ button in the top right-hand corner. When registering, you need to enter your ID number, email address and municipality. Other information is imported automatically from Facebook, if that option is used (it is a good idea to check that your email address is correctly registered on Facebook).

Who sees what I write?
You can see it yourself. All information in the reading diary is encrypted and only accessible to the user, unless you decide to share it yourself on social media. If you are on a team, the team leader can see what you are reading.

What is the competition about?
Allir lesa is a national reading competition where teams sign up and compete to spend as much time as possible reading. It is the time spent reading that counts, not the number of pages.

What can be read?
All reading counts, whether it's fiction, non-fiction, comics, magazines or anything else. It doesn't matter what form the material is in – printed text, e-books and audiobooks all count equally. You can also log the time you spend reading aloud to others.

In which categories is there competition?
You can compete both as an individual and as part of a team. There are two categories in the team competition: Workplace category and Open category.

What happened to the school party?
It was decided to place a greater emphasis on family teams and, at the same time, remove the responsibility from teachers. As before, we strongly encourage schools to publicise the national game, encourage older pupils to form teams and create space for pleasure reading.

How do I sign up for a team?
It's best to check with your workplace first to see if anyone has already signed up, and if so, you can join them. If no one has signed up, you can volunteer to be the team captain and encourage your colleagues to take part. To sign up yourself, and your team, click on „Log in“ in the top right-hand corner. First, you create an account for yourself and then create the team. Next, fill in the requested information and save. Each team member then registers on the website and joins the team, or the team manager adds the members.

Can the team captain register a reading for their team? Yes, he can, but each team member can also log their own reading for the team.

Can I log the time I read to my child?
Yes, you can log all the time you read for others, and likewise the time you listen to others read. It is therefore ideal for people to read to each other – a sort of parlour reading. 

How are teams ranked?
The competition is for the longest reading time, relative to the total number of team members. Clicking on „Status“ displays all the categories, and under each, the top teams at any given time. To view all teams in a category, click “See all”. The total time is the average of the time spent reading by team members, divided by the number of members in the team.

The rules of the game are few and simple!

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Ready, Steady, Read! 

Allir lesa – or Ready, Steady, Read! is a national reading game. People of all ages, all over Iceland, can compete in this simple and fun game. The game starts on 27 January 2017 and ends on 19 February. You can compete in a team, as an individual, or both. The game is simple: you register on the website and list the time you spend reading. The instructions are in Icelandic, but we encourage people of all languages to take part, and of course, you can read books in whichever language you wish. Form or join a team with your family, work colleagues or friends and snuggle up with a book during the dark time of Þorri. The teams and individuals who spend the most time reading during the game period will be rewarded with prizes.