Reading Association of Uganda was established primarily to drive literacy in Uganda.
Out of realisation that the Ugandan reading culture had been nose diving, some concerned literacy professionals took the lead in mobilising others to address this problem; thus, the birth of Reading Association of Uganda in 1998. During this period, a 10-member interim executive committee was mandated to draw up a plan to start the Association. On 1st September 1999, the Association was officially launched by the Minister of State for Primary Education, Hon. G. Namirembe Bitamazire, at Grand Imperial Hotel, Kampala. This was at a seminar entitled “Developing a Reading Culture and Environment in our Society “. An 11-man executive committee was elected to run the affairs of the organisation on behalf of the general membership.
RAU is a local chapter of the International Reading Association, a global network of individuals and institutions that has existed since 1956 committed to worldwide literacy and currently with more than 60,000 members.