LibGuides: Unisa's Partner Public Libraries: Reading Groups / Clubs

Reading Groups and Public and Community Libraries

In its broadest sense a "reading group" is a collection of people who come together to discuss a variety of topics contained in books. It provides an enjoyable social experience and creates a reader-focused environment in which readers can explore the creativity of reading.

Benefits include the following:

reading groups build on libraries’ traditional core skills in promoting reading, informal learning and self-help.
reading groups deliver benefits to society and to the individual. They provide support, for instance, for adult literacy and children’s learning
reading group provision builds on libraries’ open, neutral and self-help culture and provides a distinctive service that, at the same time, shares common ground with private- and public-sector partners.

Public and community libraries are central players in the reading group movement.

Most public and community libraries are ideal for reading group provision. They can offer:

An inclusive community venue open to all
A wide and varied choice of reading material
Expert staff able to recommend reading matter, widen reader choice, offer advice and in some cases facilitate groups
Information, events and activities including links to other learning activities in the library

The benefits of reading groups to the community which the public library serves include:

Broadening and widening people’s reading
Supporting an enjoyable and more satisfying reading experience for all readers
Giving exposure to new ideas
Supporting learning
Empowering the individual and support skills development
Giving a sense of belonging and inclusion
Bringing communities together
Providing a lifeline in difficult life circumstances

Reading group provision enables public libraries to:

Serve the local community better, increase library use and develop the library audience
Support user consultation by bringing staff and users together and providing direct feedback on services
Support staff development by increasing and widening reading, developing confidence, increasing contact with users and allowing for the learning of new skills
Raise their profile and highlight their role as a community service delivering a quality reading experience to all readers. They also enable libraries to challenge stereotypes about libraries and increase understanding about the demographic groups they serve
Support the cultural economy by building audiences for literature events, author visits, writing initiatives and related arts events. In particular, reading groups form a network to underpin local, regional and national literature touring, promote new writing and less mainstream forms of literature and reinforce a vibrant publishing scene, both independent and commercial
Develop a powerful creative force as enthused readers discuss and recommend books and reading beyond the confines of their group. A reading group is the hub of a significant community network and its members are powerful reading activists

The IFLA Literacy and Reading Section presents some practical suggestions for library staff who would like to help their communities become more literate. Libraries are uniquely situated to promote literacy. Libraries may develop and staff their own programs or they may support literacy projects sponsored by other organizations.

The aims of these practical pointers are:

To encourage libraries to become involved in literacy programs
To serve as an informal checklist for evaluating library-based programs that are already in place

Initiatives to get people reading

Let us take a look at the growing number of reading initiatives in South Africa and which are not necessarily restricted to public and community libraries.

Libromat
Team member Nicholas Dowdall, 25, zeroed in on picture book reading after stumbling on a study in Khayelitsha, a township of more than 300,000 in Cape Town, South Africa. Mothers of infants were recruited and given eight weeks of training to read to their children. The women reported a significant increase in the number of words that their kids understood and vocalized.
Nal’ibali - How to get books and reading materials for your reading club
Nal’ibali - it starts with a story
Nal’ibali (isiXhosa for “here’s the story”) is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign to spark children’s potential through storytelling and reading.
Nal'ibali is built on simple logic: that a well-established culture of reading can be a real game-changer for education in South Africa. Literacy skills are a strong predictor of future academic success in all subjects - and children who regularly read and hear engaging stories, in languages they understand, are well equipped and motivated to learn to read and write. A significant body of research reinforces the link between reading for pleasure and improved outcomes for children.
The Pavement Bookworm
The Pavement Bookworm’s Book Readers’ Club is located in Joubert Park, Johannesburg. With 25-30 regular attendees, the club caters for underprivileged and at-risk youths ranging from 12 to 28 years of age. Beyond sharing books and ideas, the club is essentially a support group for all of those who attend it.
Many of the children involved in this club have already shown marked improvement in their school results since joining the club and discovering their love for reading.
Rinse, Spin, Read To Kids: It's A Mashup Of Laundromat and Library
Poor mothers often spend way too much time hunched over a washboard. What if they could use those hours to curl up with their kids and read a book instead? A group of friends at Oxford University plans to find out by developing a combination childhood education and laundry services center, a concept they've dubbed a "Libromat."
Shine Book Buddies
The Shine Book Buddies model pairs older and younger children in schools together to enhance the reading skills of both. They meet two to three times a week for 15 minutes and do paired and shared reading – methodology also used in all Shine Centres during the Literacy Hour programme. Carefully selected readers (books) are offered in English and/or the mother tongue of the children. This simple, yet highly effective programme, can be facilitated by class teachers, and easily incorporated as a school-led initiative.
Shine Literacy
Shine Centres provide individualised support to children in Grades Two and Three (the Shine Literacy Hour) to strengthen their English reading, writing and speaking skills. Children work with trained volunteers once or twice a week, during the school day, for at least one year. A simple assessment at the end of Grade One is used to select the children who will take part in the programme. Further bi-annual assessments enable children’s progress to be carefully tracked.