Mosscare Housing Association, based in Moss Side, Manchester,
is doing its bit to encourage reading in the home. With
over 3500 properties, a large proportion of them occupied
by families, the association is in the perfect position
to support the Family Reading Campaign.
Young people's involvement lies at the heart of the organisation.
For this reason, Mosscare has teamed up with Sure Start
in Moss Side, Rusholme and Fallowfield (MRF) to develop
a seated reading corner in its head office reception area.
Sure Start (MRF) granted Mosscare £1700, which was
used to purchase seating, room dividers and book cases.
More importantly, the grant financed the purchase of educational
books. These books are suitable for all ages, and a number
of them are in dual languages including Arabic, Somali and
Urdu. Mosscare worked with a Sure Start (MRF) librarian
who advised on suitable books, and through consultation
with tenants, interactive CDs in ten different languages
were purchased. This demonstrates that the association aims
to encourage family reading within all the communities it
provides a service to.
The children's reading corner has been a great success,
with children of all ages taking the time to sit and pick
up a book while in the Mosscare reception area. But the
initiative does not stop there. Children are encouraged
to borrow books for home use: a child can sign a form allowing
them to borrow a book of their choice for up to one month.
This has also proved to be very successful in encouraging
children to use the library facilities available to them.
Encouraged by the response received from the reading corner,
Mosscare is in the planning stage of setting up a book exchange
forum. This aims to enable families to donate or exchange
books for others. The initiative is planned to pilot in
Openshaw, Manchester later this year.
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