Everybody's Reading Toolkit
LANCASHIRE
Project 1 - Make-over of Savick Library, Preston
Aims
To consult and involve young mothers and young people aged 16-25 in a visual arts project to transform Savick library
To involve these groups in working alongside two artists and gain skills in this field
To combine reading development and visual arts in a new way
Where
Savick Library, Preston
Target groups
Young parents and carers from a Social Services Day Nursery, Storytime Group at the Library and a nearby private nursery
Young people attending Ashton High School, - the nearest secondary school to the library
What took place
Artists Gay Chorlton and Jack Lockhart worked on the project alongside myself running workshops with the groups mentioned above.
Gay concentrated on working with young parents, and their children. She took the theme of children's books for visual ideas and made an enchanted garden using scrap materials such as plastic, pan scourers, empty drinks bottles and paints. Parents and children worked together on the project and totally changed the library space and feel. We also introduced parents to a range of books for their children and for themselves in the course of the workshops and tied the visual arts sessions to illustrations and well-known fairy tales.
Jack worked with a group of pupils from the local high school to create a stand for graphic novels. The group and artist used photocopied sections from graphic novels to design the stand and a coloured ink technique to bring the sections to life. The group of pupils then went on a book-buying trip to stock the stand that they had made and get other new materials for the library.
The project then moved to a second stage where the same pupils created posters using digital arts techniques and painted a new section of the library to create an area for young people.
Tips, strengths and weaknesses
Tips
- Fully brief the staff in the library on the mess involved in a project like this!
- Employ artists with a proven track record in working with your target group and allow plenty of time for discussion and planning
Strengths
- The finished result was great - it has really transformed the library space from a very brown, bleak building to a user-friendly, welcoming community venue
- A lot of people were able to get involved with a project like this and it created a sense of local ownership
- People who aren't into reading could still get actively involved in the project
Weaknesses
- We weren't able to get a solid group of freely available parents involved because of their other time commitments so a lot of finishing off was left to myself, other helpers and the artist
- Doing some of the sessions in school time meant that pupils associated it with work/ study and were not as enthusiastic as they could have been
- We used a very durable paint on shelving in the library that with hindsight was very toxic to use in a confined space and would not be recommended in the future! (Hammerite)
Training Template
- To encourage library staff to use this idea - half day training session. Introduce staff to ideas to change layout and space - using some of the material from Opening the Book's training course - Understanding Reader Behaviour. This includes looking at tracking users in the library and some retail principles from Paco Underhill (urban geographer and retail anthropologist) the founder of Envirosell, a research and consulting firm. Contact Opening the Book if you need to do this course first.
- Talk about how to involve and consult potential users of the space - e.g. talking to young parents at baby clinics, finding young people through youth clubs or schools. Suggest staff take photographs of the library into groups and consult them for changes in layout, colour, design and stock.
- Discuss with staff where to find local artists that could be involved in the project. Starting points could be: Arts officers, community arts companies, North West Arts Board, Museum and Gallery staff and other education officers
- This project involved fundraising to pay artists. For sources of money try all of the above and involve staff in the putting together of a funding application.
Project 2 - Staff Training Sessions in Reader Development and Young People
Aims
To provide staff with skills in reader development and work with young people To mainstream some of the ideas from Reading Lifelines To build confidence in working with this group
Where
Throughout Libraries in Lancashire
Target groups
Library staff working with Young People in the future
What took place
Groups of interested staff came together within the Preston Division to work alongside myself on training days. I ran three training days in total for interested staff of all levels. 10-15 people attended each day. One training day concentrated on reader development and IT skills, the other two were more general.
Feedback from staff was very positive.
Young people and Reader Development.
'I am fired up for future events in my own division' It was brilliant finding out that there are people who care about what we do, and the way we can benefit young people's lives as much as I do' This was a very practical course and I came away with lots of ideas for the future' 'I feel more confident about getting involved in new promotions'
Reader development and IT
'I have enjoyed sharing promotional ideas with colleagues and discovering new ways to encourage reading with IT as a support tool'
'Well presented and well paced. I feel I've got lots out of this course'
'It has been very useful to discover the book related web sites that will enable me to encourage borrowers to read/browse when they come to use the learning centre computers'
Tips, strengths and weaknesses
Tips
- It was very useful to have staff attend on a voluntary basis
- Have a good range of stock available for staff to look at that relates to the target group
- Allow people time to get off their chest grumbles about young people 'misusing' the library
Strengths
- Staff felt very motivated at the end of the day and that really helped the development of the project
- In terms of mainstreaming work, once the project was finished it would be up to staff to develop work further and training was a key tool
Weaknesses
- In the following year of the project I am running training on a branch by branch basis to involve all staff at a particular location. One person going on a training course can find it difficult to make change back in a branch if no one else has attended
- It would have been useful to run the training at the beginning of the project rather than near the end to encourage support for a different way of working and incorporate staff ideas.
- It would have been useful to have a youth worker involved on the day
Training Template
- 9.30 Arrival
- 10.0 Introduction. Overcoming blocks to working with teenagers. Youth work culture - bridging the gap
- 10.30 Group Exercise - get people to role play being a youthworker/young person and library member of staff in threes and say to each other what they think of each other
- 11.15 Break
- 11.30 National examples of good practice
- 11.45 Brainstorm ideas and feedback
- 12.30 Lunch
Project planning - how to set up something that works. Evaluating your project
- 1.45 Group Exercise
- 2.45 Break
- 3.0 Feedback
- 4.0 Where next and evaluation
Task for the day. Consult a young person (16-25yrs) that you know through your work or family. Ask them about their reading habits - what puts them off and what they like to read. Ask them to recommend a book for a young person aged 16-25yrs to read. Read the book and bring it with you on the day.
Time To Read currently has a full time paid co-ordinator, supported by Arts Coucil of England and Museums, Libraries and Archives, North West.