This study sought to investigate the influence of reading habits on the learners’ academic performance in literature; a case study of Jinja secondary school, Jinja city”. The objectives were; to investigate the reading habits of students of Jinja Senior Secondary School, to find out the types of materials they read and their purposes for reading, to find out the perception of students on reading habits and academic performance in Literature and the factors that affect their reading habits. The study applied descriptive design that employed self-administered questionnaires, and semistructured interviews. Validity of the instruments was determined by contacting the experts and supervisor of the researcher. Reliability was determined by using test-retest method. Multi-stage sampling technique, which involves simple random sampling, was used to arrive at the sample size of 131 respondents. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Statistical Packages of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5 while qualitative data was analyzed and presented thematically. From the findings, 74.8% of the respondents indicated patronizing the library, 67.2% visited the library to conduct research, 51.9% visited the library to do their assignment, 46.6% visit to seek for information, 45.0% visit the library to study to pass their exams, 37.4% visit to read for pleasure, 33.6% visit to read newspapers, 29.0% also go there to borrow story books whilst 6.9% visit there to access the internet respectively. With regards to what reference material that is available for consultation in the library 76.3% of the respondents said the only one at the library is a dictionary which is mostly consulted. Some of the respondents indicated they needed to be encouraged to develop love for reading, therefore It will be appropriate for the authorities to at least add one lesson to the time table as a reading lesson.