Training
We know that reading for pleasure can have a profound impact on individuals, and on communities too. We run training courses that support the development and promotion of reading programmes in relation to strong local communities (strategic training) and training that support people who are running our established reading programmes (implementation training).
"A very relevant and timely course when libraries are struggling to prove their worth in a world of shrinking budgets and staffing." Julie Potton, Principal Librarian, Libraries and Heritage, Derbyshire County Council who did the Making Reading Count course
Leading Reading - a new consultancy service
In response to the demand for our experienced consultants to work more closely with local authorities, individually and regionally, we are launching a new consultancy service. Called Leading Reading, it is suitable for libraries and other organisations working with readers. We can tailor all our workforce development packages to your individual needs. Here are details of the themes we cover:
- Libraries' impact on local authority priorities and LAA targets
- Cross cutting reading strategies for local authorities
- Repositioning reading work in a health context
- Service wide improvement for young people, including creating youth led library spaces
- Adult literacy and learning
- Improving outcomes for children
Contact jenny.warner@readingagency.org.uk to find out more
Implementation training
Six Book Challenge training
Date to be confirmed
The Reading Agency's annual Six Book Challenge is being used to engage thousands of adults in reading for pleasure in a range of settings including libraries, colleges, prisons and workplaces. It delivers on local priorities of social inclusion, partnership working, formal and informal adult learning and it supports literacy, ESOL and family learning tutors with student retention, progression and achievement for employability. This one-day course will equip practitioners to run the Six Book Challenge effectively, drawing on a growing range of transferable models from around the country.
For more information call Jenny Warner on 020 7324 2545 or email training
Chatterbooks training
Chatterbooks training for library staff
Date to be confirmed
An opportunity for all library staff to build skills which will be useful not only for Chatterbooks but also in all our work with children.
In particular we will explore ways to place Chatterbooks at the heart of our work in encouraging and supporting reading and library use and enjoyment by children, parents, carers and schools.
This popular, practical training course is led Tricia KIngs. The day will help you to plan or develop your Chatterbooks reading groups in order to attract more children, parents, carers, schools, and hard-to-reach groups to your libraries, to increase your libraries' relevance, impact and status, and to achieve a higher library profile within your community.
Who should attend?
This course is designed to inspire, inform and equip any public library staff involved in the planning or delivery of Chatterbooks reading groups.
It provides an essential introduction for library staff new to Chatterbooks. It is also highly recommended for those who want to refresh or top up on previous training in this field.
"Very worthwhile and thought-provoking" "...will go back to work with lots of ideas"
"Excellent in all respects and really helpful. Very relaxed atmosphere, but lots being taken in"
For more information call Jenny Warner on 020 7324 2545 or email training
Chatterbooks for schools
Date to be confirmed
A one day course for teaching and non-teaching staff wishing to set up Chatterbooks in their school.
It covers how to set up and run a group, and how to make the most of the Chatterbooks experience and offer to develop children as enthusiastic and successful readers.
For more information call Jenny Warner on 020 7324 2545 or email training
Strategic training
We have developed a number of training offers to support strategic developments for library and information services:
Making Reading Count
This one day training course helps senior library managers to demonstrate the impact reading services have on local authority priorities and Local Area Agreement targets. It includes a case study from Janene Cox, Assistant Director (Culture & Libraries) Satffordshire, showing how reading and libraries can be positioned much more strategically - increasingly important in light of the changes that are happening to library services at the moment.
Feedback from participants has been excellent.
_"Libraries can be pulled in many different directions, but books and reading activity
remains at the heart of our business. We need to improve the evidence we collect which enables us to demonstrate the value of activity in this area,
where it matters. I found this course provided me with the information and motivation I needed to devote more time and energy to the increasingly important work of collecting evidence to enable real evaluation to happen." _
(Jane Mathieson, Regional Reader Development Co-ordinator, Time To Read, North West Region)
Next date to be confirmed
Participate - libraries and young people
Participate is our modular programme that helps libraries to meet young people's needs. Participate is offered as four linked modules - choose the route that best suits your service. Each module is fully supported by consultancy and online resources. As a whole programme participate builds to a model that enables you to deliver the full Library Offer to young people:
- Making Change Happen- introduces your service to standards and frameworks for young people's participation and guides your service through self assessment, action planning and partnerships.
- Involving young people- enables your service to develop the processes and skills to support effective consultation, accredited volunteering opportunities and involving young people in key decision making.
- Creative Reading- enables your service to develop the key skills and activities to provide positive reading based activities and to build a 21st century reading service for young people. It includes a professional subscription to the new creative reading website for young people; groupthing.org
- HeadSpace- if you are refurbishing or building a new library, HeadSpace is a holistic project based model for supporting your service to involve young people in designing space, accredited volunteering and delivering positive activities within a particular location.
See HeadSpace. This course will run next in summer 2010
Regional Skills Share Day - Reading for health and well-being
We are offering this day as a bespoke package for regions or sub-regional groups or clusters of authorities. The day helps you share good practice and experience around reading for health and well-being, find out what is going on in this field regionally and nationally, and explore strategies for working with health sector partners.
The aims are:
- To explore the relevance of libraries work with reading to health and well being
- To share good practice from within the region and explore a range of different models for reading and health activity
- To map key partners/stakeholders
- To develop understanding on how to work with the health sector and other key partners
- To exploring potential linkages with other areas of work such as volunteering
To enquire about booking this course for your region or area, please contact Jenny.Warner@readingagency.org.uk.
Reading and outcomes for children
The Summer Reading Challenge together with Chatterbooks reading groups make for a powerful year round offer for children from librarie