No to Age Banding

... the neat sorting-out of books into age ranges, so dear to publishers, has only a very sketchy relation with the habits of any real readers. Those of us who are blamed when old for reading childish books were blamed when children for reading books too old for us. No reader worth his salt trots along in obedience to a time-table.

CS Lewis (1952 essay On three ways of writing for children, collected in Of Other Worlds (latest edition, Harvest Books 2002)

This website was set up by writers and other professionals who believe that the proposal to put an age-banding figure on books for children is ill-conceived and damaging to the interests of young readers.

Our statement (below) has been signed by over 4,400 people, including over 820 authors and illustrators.

The Library Association of Ireland / Cumann Leabharlann na hÉireann issued the following statement of support on 3 November 2008:

The Library Association of Ireland expresses its support for the “No to Age Banding Campaign”.

The age banding scheme is a brake on individual reader development, it attempts to put a permanent series of imposed categories on what should be a continuum of development.
The blanket approach of age banding does not allow enough flexibility for reader-led purchasing policies.
Weaker readers are discriminated against and further marginalised by the age banding approach. These readers may make wrong choices or be discouraged from making book choices at all by being stigmatised by low age bands.

The CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, has issued a statement in support of No to Age Banding. It reads:

CILIP supports the aims of the “No to Age Banding” campaign. It believes that the age banding of books is unhelpful and potentially harmful to the enjoyment of reading by children for the following reasons:

Children and young people develop at different ages. By banding books with an age it could make reluctant readers think that a book that is actually appropriate for their reading ability is too young for them, thus putting them off reading altogether. Equally a strong confident reader may feel that a book that is appropriate for their reading ability is too old for them.
Personal reading experience shows that children take out of their reading what they need, and many books can be read at different levels. Parents and others who are uncertain about appropriate books can ask at bookshops and libraries where staff are experienced and knowledgeable.
It is much more important that the needs and tastes of the individual child be considered - in libraries, in bookshops and by teachers - in line with the present educational commitment to a personalised approach, than applying a banding system that will either necessarily be too rigid or will have to be so encompassing to be too vague to be of any point.

We wish the campaign success and assure you of the support of the library community.

The Association of Senior Children's & Education Librarians (ASCEL) Response to the debate:

ASCEL regrets that Librarians were not consulted in the early stages and hopes that this debate will lead to a modification of the proposals
ASCEL is also interested in understanding more about the research that led to this proposal. With whom was it undertaken, what was the sample size and what precise questions were asked?
Every child and young person is unique; reading is not hierarchical & progressive, although adults can present it to children and young people in that way. We all develop as readers by reading a wide range of material. The approach proposed reinforces reading as a mere process and diminishes the view of reading as a creative activity in which the young reader interacts with the text.
Children read up and down the age range and not always correlating directly to their chronological age. Children can read at a level higher than their apparent reading level, if they are motivated by the subject matter
A danger in this proposed approach is that all books for children and young people end up classified as if a part of some grand reading scheme. Children really start to fly as independent readers once off their designated reading scheme and are able to make genuine choices about what they read. Whilst it may appear helpful, this current proposal will potentially reduce choice as parents & carers will be led to a defined, limited range of age related titles
Children whose ability level is greater or lesser than their chronological age will be put-off from reading titles apparently ‘badged’ not for them. Anecdotally, staff in public and school libraries report the impact of this factor time and again. The proposals will effect the support and advice that staff in public or school libraries and in bookshops can give to parents/carers and children, especially those who are gifted and talented or less able. An age indication on the cover cannot replace the engaged and interested adult (parent/carer, teacher, librarian) who knows the child and the books and can bring the two together meaningfully. As children’s librarians, many of us were trained with the mantra – ‘the right book for the right child at the right time’. It is an adage that still holds true today.

The age-banding of children's books was discussed at an eagerly-awaited and packed session held on 31st August at the Society of Authors' Conference at Robinson College, Cambridge. We have set up three pages on this site, containing a summary of the session, Philip Pullman's, address attacking the idea of age-banding books and Anne Fine's report of the current state of affairs between dissenting authors and their publishers.

Over 4,400 people have now signed up to the following statement. They include over 820 authors. The entire list can be seen by going to Supporters.

We are writers, illustrators, librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, educationalists, psychologists, parents and grandparents. Some of the writers and illustrators have a measure of control over what appears on the covers of their books; others have less.

But we are all agreed that the proposal to put an age-guidance figure on books for children is ill-conceived, damaging to the interests of young readers, and highly unlikely, despite the claims made by those publishers promoting the scheme, to make the slightest difference to sales.

We take this step to disavow publicly any connection with such age-guidance figures, and to state our passionately-held conviction that everything about a book should seek to welcome readers in and not keep them out.

Here are some of our reasons:

Each child is unique, and so is each book. Accurate judgments about age suitability are impossible, and approximate ones are worse than useless.
Children easily feel stigmatized, and many will put aside books they might love because of the fear of being called babyish. Other children will feel dismayed that books of their ‘correct’ age-group are too challenging, and will be put off reading even more firmly than before.
Age-banding seeks to help adults choose books for children, and we're all in favour of that; but it does so by giving them the wrong information. It’s also likely to encourage over-prescriptive or anxious adults to limit a child's reading in ways that are unnecessary and even damaging.
Everything about a book is already rich with clues about the sort of reader it hopes to find – jacket design, typography, cover copy, prose style, illustrations. These are genuine connections with potential readers, because they appeal to individual preference. An age-guidance figure is a false one, because it implies that all children of that age are the same.
Children are now taught to look closely at book covers for all the information they convey. The hope that they will not notice the age-guidance figure, or think it unimportant, is unfounded.
Writers take great care not to limit their readership unnecessarily. To tell a story as well and inclusively as possible, and then find someone at the door turning readers away, is contrary to everything we value about books, and reading, and literature itself.

To sign up and show your support for this statement, send an email to . We will publish your name and any relevant description (eg author, librarian, bookseller) on this web site. We'll keep your email address confidential and won't pass it to anybody else, but we may write occasionally with relevant news.

We've had reports that the above link is garbled in some browsers. If that is the case, please accept our apologies: the link is coded to fool the spammers but it's obviously fooling some browsers too. If necessary type the email address signup at notoagebanding dot org into your email program.

Go to a list of people who have already signed up.