Why Run a Reading Group?

What outcomes for young readers is your service working to achieve? If they are about inspiring and extending young people's reading then it is likely that a reading group will be the ideal activity to achieve some of those outcomes.

Have a look at the list of outcomes under Impact in the Planning and Evaluation section of this website. Many of these could be achieved by running a reading group.

Target outcomes for reading groups can include:

• Young people reading more widely
• Young people experiencing reading in new ways
• Young people becoming more confident about themselves as readers
• Young people having a greater sense of self esteem and expressing themselves more confidently
• Young people and their families having an increased sense of belonging to the community through reading and reading activities

Reading groups also provide a timely opportunity to meet some key outcomes from the Fulfilling their Potential Improvement Model.

Outcomes such as:

• Young people are able to extend and develop their reading choices
• Young people are actively involved in sharing their enjoyment of reading with other young people
• Young people actively promote their selections to other young people

Children’s and young people’s reading groups can be a useful starting point for involving young people in developing library services; they can purchase stock, redesign spaces and provide ideas about how to attract more young people to the library. (Be wary of always relying on this group for consultation activities though – young people can become over-consulted and it’s important to extend consultation activities to a wider group of young people who don’t already use library services. See the section Involving and Consulting with Young People on this TRF website.)

Your reading group would also help in the achievement of local targets, for example:

• Developing services to a particular target group
• Increasing the use of particular service points
• Developing staff skills

And this activity would also contribute to service delivery on national initiatives such as Every Child Matters and Youth Matters, Social Inclusion, Lifelong Learning, and Community Cohesion.