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Reading Partners is a new initiative to promote books and
authors more effectively through the public library system.
Linking commercial publishers and libraries, the project
is steered by The Reading Agency. It aims to revitalize
attitudes towards books in the library sector, coupling
the reader development power of libraries with the marketing
clout of publishers and dramatically increase the number
of people reached by books.
Anthony Forbes Watson, Penguin UK chief executive comments,
"We've spent too long consigning libraries to the past,
when suddenly its becoming clear that they have a big part
to play in our future." The two-year pilot project
was also prompted by the Government's 2003 framework for
the future of public libraries and its ongoing mission to
modernize the library service. The scheme has been funded
by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council - thought
The Reading Agency hopes it will eventually become self-sustaining.
The seven publishers involved, which have helped to meet
the project's costs, are: Bloomsbury, Faber, Harlequin Mills
& Boon, Harper Collins, Penguin, Random House and Time
Warner. Pan Macmillan and the Hachette group, will join
for the second half of the pilot in 2005. A network of 12
regional library representatives has been set up to represent
all 208 library authorities and to steer activity at a local
level. Both sides are hugely enthusiastic about the partnership's
potential. Amanda Ridout, m.d. of HarperCollins General,
says: "As publishers we've realised that we need to
connect our authors much more closely to readers, and have
to expand the market. We've become aware that library users
are a huge resource that we want to use and inspire. Reading
Partners is going to give us a much better understanding
of a key sector in our lives."
For more information visit http://www.readingagency.org.uk
(Bookseller, 4 February 2005)
The Idea Store programme was sparked by the worry over
the demise of public libraries. The numbers of people using
libraries had been falling year on year, the buildings getting
tattier and, situated far from other amenities - it was
generally felt that their time was up. But in combining
the library with adult education services under one roof,
the Idea Store is aiming to give a new lease of life to
adult learning and library services.
It's no easy task, as Jean Lockett, Idea Store's curriculum
development leader, points out. "Roughly a third of
the borough's adult population has no qualifications whatsoever,"
she says. "We also have an extremely diverse mix, so
there is a huge range of needs to be catered for. At present,
we are focusing primarily on English as a second language
and basic skills provision."
The Idea Store represents a major shift in learning provision,
not least because it joins up a wide range of disparate
institutions. At present, most providers are in competition
with one another, both for funding and for learners: this
is not just a waste of resources, as many courses are duplicated;
it also means various people slip through the net, as everyone
assumes they are someone else's responsibility. Now there
is a single focal point where all provision can meet. Some
institutions, including the local Tower Hamlets College
of Further Education, have jointly funded a post to ensure
the scheme's smooth running.
Ivan Lewis, minister for adult skills, insists it is a
win-win scenario. "The beauty of it is that by combining
the funding and planning provision accordingly, the scheme
pays for itself, and in the process, colleges and other
agencies reach more learners than they otherwise might."
(Guardian, 26 October 2004)
Reading Partners: Linking publishers
and libraries, Reading Partners, is a Reading Agency initiative,
seeking to build stronger links between publishers and libraries.
Tom Palmer, who has worked in both sectors, is coordinating
the initiative. Tom will be working closely with libraries
and the publishers in the Reading Partners Consortium -
Faber, Harlequin, HarperCollins, Penguin and Random House.
For more information contact tom.palmer@readingagency.org.uk
(Library & Information update March 2004)
Their Reading Futures is a three
year programme which aims to take public libraries' work with
children to a new level. It will redefine, support and
refresh reader development work with young people, strengthening
and enhancing children's services and improving equality of
access.
The project is co-ordinated byThe Reading Agency in partnership
with the Association of Schools, Children's and Education
Librarians, The Society of Chief Librarians, The Chartered
Institute of Library and Information Professionals, the Youth
Libraries Group, Books for Students & The Arts Council
of England, Literature Department. During its first year from
2001-02, Their Reading Futures was funded by the DCMS/Wolfson
Public Libraries Challenge Fund.
There are several strands to the initiative:
- A national advocacy campaign which will celebrate existing
strengths, highlighting and promoting the unique way that
public libraries work to create the best possible reading
experience for everyone. It will emphasise to policy
makers and potential partners and funders the value and
importance of children's libraries.
- A practical audit framework, available on a new Reading
Futures website, will help library managers and practitioners
to plan reader development activities with children and
to measure how successful these are.
- Practical support will be provided through a series
of training days to cover advocacy, the audit framework
and practical reader development. Additionally, there
will be on-line training for all front-line library staff
working with children.
- Practical tools will be provided through the
new website, alongside information on and materials for
related projects such as Chatterbooks and the Summer Reading
Challenge.
Contact Tricia Kings on 01736 332228 or tricia.kings@readingagency.org.uk
or see www.theirreadingfutures.org.uk
DCMS/Wolfson funding in 2000 enabled a library partnership
of Birmingham, Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Croydon,
Essex, Kent, Leeds, Norfolk, Suffolk, UKOLN, University
of Bath, Walsall to launch www.storiesfromtheweb.org.
This is a website designed to stimulate the imagination
and reading development of children and young people, encouraging
them to explore, read and enjoy stories in a geographically
distributed, collaborative public library, networked environment.
The website provides a rich environment, accessible to all,
in which children can interact with stories in libraries,
at home and at school. Through weekly clubs held in
each partner authority, children were guided through learning
programmes, giving them the opportunity to meet and interact
with authors and publishers, develop reading, writing and
computer literacy skills, communicate with each other using
a range of web technologies and take part in reading events,
eg 'Reading Razzamatazz'. The project aimed to encourage
their development as readers, increase their own skills
and confidence and enhance children's and parents' use of
their library services. Library staff were trained to support
reader development using ICT & conventional literature
promotion methods. The programme is ongoing - more.
LaunchPad, the reader development agency for children, was
awarded DCMS/Wolfson 2001 funds (£137,100) to run
Their Reading Futures, a programme that mapped and shared
good practice in public libraries' reader development work
with children. The programme aimed to avoid duplication
in the research, planning and development of projects, as
well as training front-line staff in working with children
and their families and constructing a framework for self-evaluation.
Contact 01604 236236.
Chatterbooks is the first nationally coordinated reading
group scheme for children. Many Library Authorities
nationwide have signed up to the scheme, a national network
made possible by the partnership of Orange and The Reading
Agency.
Author Jacqueline Wilson is the project's Patron. The
scheme embraces four to twelve year olds, encouraging them
to read adventurously, share their enthusiasm about books
and develop the confidence to formulate and express opinions
about reading. It reaches over 3000 children, many
of them from excluded groups.
Group sessions give children the opportunity to interact
positively and develop their confidence as readers, by increasing
the time they spend reading and sharing books. The scheme
aims to encourage families to visit their public library
and enjoy all it has to offer through special events, such
as meeting authors and illustrators.
Reports from the Reading Agency have been very positive:
- 100% of groups said that children were reading more
widely, for example after a year in the Brixton Chatterbooks
group, the number of children reading 3 books per week
had increased from 17% to 49%
- 91% of the groups said that belonging to Chatterbooks
had increased children's confidence and self-esteem
Contact Tricia Kings on 01736 332228 or tk113@hotmail.com,
or Jerry Hurst on 020 8364 6166 or jerry.hurst@tesco.net
Find
out more
Supported by the DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Challenge
Fund in 2000/01, 'Mind's Eye' was the first national reader-centred
promotion for non-fiction. It used approaches developed
from fiction promotion in libraries which start from the
reader and the experience of reading, rather than the author,
genre or title. The goal was to explode the image
of non-fiction readers as 'narrowly focused' and 'traditional'
and redefine them as adventurous, demanding and up for a
challenge. 'Mind's Eye' aimed to provide the ideal
books and tools for meeting that challenge. Five pilot
authorities used the Mind's Eye books and displays as a
focus for widening their contact with non-fiction readers.
The authorities are Blackburn, Bristol, Portsmouth, Staffordshire
and Southwark. Reader development agency Opening
the Book Ltd managed 'Mind's Eye' for the Public Libraries
Group. For more information see www.reader-development.com/mindseye/
Branching Out is an initiative to reach readers through libraries,
now in its sixth year. It is managed by the Society of Chief
Librarians in partnership with Opening the Book and funded
by Arts Council England. The 2003-2006 programme offers the
opportunity to participate to all English authorities and
to cascade the benefits of the first three-year programme
from the original 33 to the other 116 authorities. More information
on www.branching-out.net,
the website for everyone involved in reader development. Estyn
Allan is the parallel programme involving all 22 authorities
in Wales and supported by an Arts for All grant from the Arts
Council in Wales.
Article on Branching Out
(from Literacy Today)
Lending Time is a project developed by Community Service
Volunteers in partnership with six library authorities - Bournemouth,
Gateshead, Kent, Knowsley, Merton and Staffordshire. Over
three years from early in 2002 - and with funding from the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Home Office
Active Community Unit - the pilot schemes will aim to demonstrate
how volunteers can strengthen and enrich library services
for library staff, users and local communities. The project
is being managed by CSV Consulting.
The key objectives of the project are to help public libraries
to create new volunteering objectives, particularly for older
volunteers, to develop and sustain levels of involvement in
public libraries, and to build the capacity of libraries to
involve volunteers. Project manager have been appointed in
each of the participating areas to work alongside existing
library staff to develop and expand volunteer programmes,
as appropriate to each location to extend and augment services.
It is intended that the projects are sustainable and that
they develop the capacity to continue beyond the initial funding
period of the pilot project.
For more information contact Lending Time project director,
CSV on 020 7643 1351.
www.whichbook.net
is a completely new way for readers to choose books. Whichbook.net
offers complex choices in ways which are playful, intuitive
and easy to use, and allow the reader complete control. The
site was created by Opening the Book, working with Applied
Psychology Research Ltd and libraries across the UK. Funded
by The Big Lottery, it has an international reputation and
attracts 40,000 individual visitors per month. It has been
featured in everything from the New York Times to Web User
and won Literary Website of the Year 2003 on Steve Wright's
Radio 2 Show.
The aim of the Quaker Homeless Action (QHA) mobile library
is simple: that its borrowers be regarded as equal members
of the reading public. For five years, the van, stocked with
a selection of 4,000 books and staffed by volunteers, has
headed out twice weekly to five homelessness day centres in
London, lending books and taking reader requests. Readers
need only a name to sign up to use it.
Gill Lowther, the mobile library's coordinator, describes
it as "a simple, cheap, easy to run and successful project
that is fulfilling a real need". It has now been replicated
elsewhere in the UK, with similar schemes under way in Bristol
and the Isle of Wight. Costs are generally limited to running
the van. Waterstones, publishing houses and individuals donate
the books. A local vicar provides free use of a garage for
book storage.
Awarding borrowing rights to homeless people is a tricky
business. Conventional libraries work on the premise that
books will be returned, QHA does not - though volunteers are
quick to point out that most books do come back. It also helps
that QHA does not measure success solely on the number of
books borrowed. It visits centres even if there are only a
few dedicated readers. "There is a core of diehard followers
who depend on us for reading material," Lowther says.
Further information at www.qha.org.uk
(Guardian, 15.05.05)
Nine library authorities in the East Midlands pioneered a groundbreaking
£30,000 arts project during 2001-02 with funding from
the East Midlands Regional Arts Lottery Programme and the East
Midlands Museums Service. Led byThe Reading Partnership (later
to become The Reading Agency), the project built on research
on libraries and the arts commissioned by the Library Association.
Work included resident artists commissioning artwork inspired
by books and reading, creating resources in libraries for artists
and mounting themed book promotions linked to activities in
cinemas, theatres and galleries. Successful ideas were showcased
at a conference in the summer of 2002 and on a website at www.artsandlibraries.org.uk
The Big Read, an initiative from LanchPad, a libraries promotion
agency, involved 227 Asda supermarkets. Storytellers, librarians
and specially trained check out workers attracted small children
as part of a promotion to change the image of libraries and
promote reading. This idea is catching on. Tower Hamlets Borough
Council, for instance, is replacing its public libraries with
'idea stores'. Not centres, but stores. As well as traditional
library facilities, there will be creches, cafes and further
education facilities, all under the same roof and all sited
next to big supermarkets. 'We have to expect to go out and find
the next generation of library users rather than expecting them
to come to us' said a council spokesman. And of course, regular
users of libraries will find their way into adjoining branches
of Sainsbury, Safeway, Tesco and Asda. 'The supermarkets are
quite canny' says Guy Daines. 'They know that having these idea
stores adjacent will bring in more customers. In these matters,
there's always a certain amount of commercial self-interest
as well as good PR.'
Find out more about the Big Read: An
unusual partnership, Asda and libraries promoting reading
together, by Colette Blanchfield, Asda PR manager (from Literacy
Today)
DfES helps fund the 2004 Challenge
In 2004, for the first time, the initiative is to receive
funding from the DfES. TRA director Miranda McKarney commented:
"The funding from the DfES signals a growing recognition
in the formal education sector of the power and complementarity
of libraries work with young readers.
The funding will pay for bookmarks which libraries can use
to publicise the challenge. It will also pay for a feasibility
study on setting up a new version of the challenge for older
children moving from primary to secondary school.
Earlier Summer Reading Challenges
The theme for summer 2003's Summer Reading Challenge was
the Reading Maze, which allowed readers track down authors
on a website.
Summer 2002's science-related challenge, Reading Planet,
involved 3,500 libraries and led to 30,000 new child members
signing up. Around half a million four to 11-year-olds took
part.
In summer 2001, more than 600,000 children signed up for
the Reading Carnival, 520,000 of whom were primary-school
aged children. 120,000 11 to 13 year olds got involved through
Reading Challenge Plus, an extension to the scheme developed
with DCMS/Wolfson funding. This included an outreach programme
targeted at disaffected young people. Ten library authorities
piloted ways of using the challenge to develop new partnerships
and to reach new audiences.
Evaluation
An evalution on the 2003 Summer Reading Challenge found that
95% of the children involved wanted to read lots more books;
45% read a book they wouldn't have wanted to before; 65% would
tell their friends to read a book they had enjoyed and 92%
of the books were new to the children.
An independent analysis of the challenge in summer 2000 showed
that at least eight out of ten young children considered themselves
better readers after taking part and they chose a wide variety
of books. Although most of the children who completed the
challenge were good readers, a significant proportion was
not. Older boys were reluctant to get involved but there was
a 50/50 split in the younger age group.
Contact anne.sarrag@readingagency.org.uk
or see www.readingagency.org.uk
for more information.
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