The Bermuda Reading Association has been around by various names since 1977.

The organisation was called the Bermuda Reading Teachers' Council until 1986, when it was renamed The Bermuda Reading Council (BRC). It became the Bermuda Reading Association in 1993. The BRC participated in the International Reading Association (IRA) Honour Council Awards Programme for the first time in 1986.

This programme required that the council work to increase of members each year; complete workshops with professional persons from the Board of Directors of IRA presenting on the practice of Reading Instruction; and conduct community projects such as Reading in the Park, Reading Projects for Parents, Reading to the Blind, Prison Library Improvement at Coed Facility, the Production of an image brochure identifying the mission, goals, projects.

In 1990 BRC attained global recognition when the council participated in the Patchwork Quilt Project conducted by IRA.

All countries were invited to produce a 19-centimetre square of fabric depicting something that represented literacy in their country. The finished Patchwork Quilt was presented to UNESCO at the 13th World Congress of IRA in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 3, 1990. It was subsequently put on display at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.

In December 1994 the IRA approved The Bermuda Reading Association's proposal to host the Fifth Caribbean Regional Conference in November 1996.

This event was the first Regional Educational Conference held in Bermuda. The theme was Literacy, Passport to the 21st Century for Bermuda and The Caribbean.

The Bermuda Reading Association is known for two of its longstanding activities namely,

The Annual Reading Conference first held in 1980 and Reading in the Park which began in the summer of 1984.

The past 25 conferences of the Bermuda Reading Association have focused on providing best practices in Reading Instruction for teachers, parents, and educators.

The Association has been supported by IRA's professional expertise and it has endeavoured to work with the Ministry of Education with the goal of responding to the need for continued literacy development in Bermuda.