Readers For Life II - 2008-2011 Toolkit
2. Who We Are/What we have achived
Time To Read has existed as a formal network since before the first National Year of Reading in 1998 and has supported a full-time co-ordinator since October 2002. This post has recently been renewed until September 2011. All 22 authorities in the region are committed to the Time To Read partnership.
It continues to focus on work with adults, as well as addressing areas of overlapping work with young people and families. While some authority representatives who attend Time To Read meetings have responsibility for reader development across the age ranges, others are only responsible for working with adults. There is a growing trend for Reader Development to be combined with responsibility for adult stock. Communication with Reader Development practitioners with young people can be problematic in some authorities, and it is an intention of this strategy that better cross- working and communication practices are achieved.
Time To Read published its first regional strategy document Readers For Life early in 2005. This was an overarching framework document, intending to encompass all aspects of reader development activity, which is concerned with reading for pleasure and reading that supports lifelong learning. Readers For Life closely referenced Framework for the Future (2003), the government's long-term strategy for public libraries.
Through its Readers For Life Strategy, Time To Read is concerned with:
- Promoting services to potential users
- Advocacy for library services in general and reading in particular
- Bringing readers together in groups and at events to counter social isolation and foster reading as a shared experience
- Providing material and support for emergent readers with basic skills needs
- Encouraging wide reading through promotions and use of websites
- Ensuring excellent quality stocks through widening awareness of minority interest titles, new authors, classics, small-press materials as well as best sellers
- Display of stock to encourage borrowing and browsing
- Look and feel of buildings, externally and internally, to entice people in and encourage them to stay
- Recruiting, training and enabling staff to engage creatively with users and potential users of the service
Readers For Life was intended to help structure local strategies, acting as evidence that promoting reading contributes to the major political and cultural agendas driving library services.
The first strategy was monitored every 6 months through a questionnaire to local Reader Development practitioners, with findings reported to SCL NW. Through the reporting process, local library staff selected examples of good practice to share with their colleagues across the region. They also had the opportunity to comment on the value of TTR to themselves and their authorities, as well as flag up ideas for future development. Some recent comments from Time To Read members include:
- TTR really pushes forward ideas and concerns in the region
- Pure Passion, enabled us to promote romantic fiction to a wide range of readers, and also presented lots of hooks to hang media stories on, which helped raise the profile of the library services
- Professional support and guidance. Overcomes professional isolation
- Inspiration, economies of scale, planning, ideas sharing, info sharing, personal development
Readers For Life did not set any precise targets or measures, as it was felt these would be difficult to agree across 22 authorities at that time. Many actions in the strategy were therefore aspirational rather than precisely measurable (e.g. Ensure that staff have time to work with hard to reach groups...) and consequently it has been difficult to measure progress. There is some evidence of progress in some areas, such as:
- All 22 authorities are now using any regional promotions developed. In 2005 18 authorities reported using the major Here & Now promotion. By 2008 all 22 authorities used Pure Passion
- The number of events bringing readers and writers together continues to grow- from 128 (reported in March 06 for the period Oct 05-Mar 06) to 188 in Mar 08
- The number of readers' groups supported by the region's libraries continues to grow: from 599+ (Mar 06) to 765+ (Mar 08).
- More authorities are supporting their readers' groups with reading group sets/collections (from 14 to 18)
Areas to focus on:
- There has been little reported growth in the number of authorities allocating a budget specifically for promotional materials, despite the increase in the range of offers available, nationally and regionally.
- There is still work to be done in the development of digital services promoting reading. Only a small number of authorities currently have interactive areas on their own sites (4), allowing readers to talk to each other, and very few are using social networking sites to promote services and activities
The strategy is regularly cited as useful by TTR members in assisting with development of local strategies and policies. Alongside the strategy is an action plan that sets out precise actions and target dates so that work is both delivered locally and supported by the Time To Read network.
Since 2005, TTR has strengthened its link with The Reading Agency, the key support organisation in the UK brokering major strategic partnerships and developing projects and activities to promote reading through public libraries. The Reading Agency is now represented on the Time To Read steering group and Time To Read members, as well as the co-ordinator, are more regularly consulted about TRA plans and activities.
The strategy has been promoted in other English regions- i.e. South East region, Yorks & Humberside, West Midlands and 3 regions currently are supporting new co-ordinator posts- West Midlands, Yorks & Humberside, North East. While these have been created in response to the National Year of Reading 2008, they have learned from the experience of the NW. The West Midlands post is supported by SCL and is most closely modelled on the NW post.
The TTR co-ordinator was invited to the Trans - Tasman Public Libraries Conference 2008 in Melbourne Australia, specifically to talk about the strategic regional approach to reader development.
