Secondary illiteracy is a consequence of the reading crisis

A peculiar trend of the recent years is the loss of the prestigiousness and the exclusive role of reading in society. The reading crisis is observed in all industrially developed countries. In this regard, secondary illiteracy began to spread among the population. The emergence of the phenomenon of secondary illiteracy leads to a number of negative social and economic consequences. An extensive experience has been gained in solving the problems of the reading crisis throughout the world. Countries around the globe are implementing a variety of measures to support reading. State and public support for reading and book publishing is provided, national programs and initiatives to support children's and family reading are legislated. The article addresses the problem of reading of the younger generation as a social problem of modern society. The importance of reading as a basic competence of the younger generation is emphasized. The necessity of the special programs development, as well as the projects for improving children's reading motivation is substantiated. An analysis of the projects implementation experience supporting reading in developed countries, in consideration of the approaches in compiling a new strategy and plans to support reading in Ukraine, is completed.