East Midlands Regional Reading Group Project

The East Midlands Regional Reader Group Project was be presented with an Opening Doors to Adult Learners Award at the Adult Learners' Week National Awards Ceremony in London on 18th May 2008; the project also received an award at the Regional Award Ceremony on 22nd May at Nottinghamshire County Hall. 

The photograph shows John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation Universities and Skills presenting the award to Priscilla Baily, the Project Co-ordinator.  Also pictured are Debbie Hicks of The Reading Agency and Paddy Fagan, a member of the Shirebrook Reading Group in Derbyshire.

The award is in recongition of the 688 reading groups established across the East Midlands creating 7,000 confident readers and of the storytelling strand of the project too.

The three year regional project was launched in April 2005 to test the proposed national offer for reading group provision and framework for provision as outlined in The Reading Agency's report "A National Public Library Development Programme for Reading Groups". The pilot is being run in the East Midlands and delivered by the nine local authority public library services via the EMRALD group with support from MLA East Midlands, MLA and TRA.

In May 2007 all nine public library authorities signed up to the Quality Framework for Progression for a second year, setting new targets for the final year of the project. The interim evaluation report was completed in June 2007 measuring impact and growth during 2007 and can be found as a Word document below. This interim evaluation shows a 33% rise in the number of reading groups supported by the EM public libraries since the start of the project including a more diverse range of reading groups meeting than ever before. The value and impact of the project are well reflected in the qualitative strands of the evaluation with some positive comments from readers, partners, writers and library staff.

In the final year of the project (July 2007 – June 2008) recent and current activity included:

• Marketing campaign launched spring 2007 using generic flyer promoting free reading groups in libraries across the East Midlands.
• Volunteer supported reading group pilots in 4 authorities. These include work with visually impaired readers, residents in care homes and sheltered housing, and plans for “book buddies” in libraries
• Creative programme – Writers2Readers programme completed – 9 writers meeting 10 readers’ groups across the region for repeat visits over a period of 6 months.
• Writers2readers finale event - June 2007 in Nottingham – attended by writers, library staff, Literature Development Officers and readers from groups in 5 different authorities.
• Library staff developing Writers2Readers reading promotion to roll out across the region.
• Storytelling programme developed in 5 authorities, offering creative narrative opportunities to a range of socially excluded groups including isolated elderly people, refugees/asylum seekers, and adults with learning disabilities.
• Writing commission to develop creative interactive product with reading groups across the region.
• Widening access to reading with new groups for mental health service users, visually impaired readers, and more groups in schools/ Chatterbooks groups.
• Partnership working with care homes, Primary Care Trusts, hospitals, Mental Health organisations, WRVS, CVS.
• East Midlands libraries working with RNIB Library Services to provide information, staff training and suggested reading group activities for visually impaired readers across the region as part of the minimum offer.
• Further skill share sessions.
• Links with other regions via visits, conferences and information exchange continue eg Time 2 Read; Read East. 

The regional reading group project is now complete and the final evaluation report will be available in autumn 2008.

EMRRGP Interim Evaluation Report  860Kb

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