Training
Training from The Reading Agency in 2010
Our 2010 training offer reflects national and local needs and priorities.
We know that reading for pleasure can have a profound impact on individuals, and on communities too. Our training equips library staff and their partners to develop and deliver sustainable and effective reading strategies and programmes, which will lead to improved take-up of reader promotions, increased library use, and more readers reading more.
Our Strategic training supports the wider positioning of library services within the local authority and enables library managers to connect with important national and local agendas, demonstrating the unique contribution of their local reading services.
Our implementation training inspires library staff in their work with readers, helping them to develop and use our core programmes and use them to maximum effect.
Implementation training
Championing reading - involving volunteers in reading groups
Thursday 11 February 2010
Priory Street Centre
15 Priory Street
York
YO1 6ET
A one day course for Reader development librarians and those with responsibility for reading group activity
Libraries are beginning to work with community reading champions in new and exciting ways particularly in relation to reading group activity.
Reading groups are increasing in popularity and libraries are constantly seeking ways to reach out to new audiences, while local authorities are looking to empower and engage local communities.
This course will equip staff to engage with a range of target audiences through reading groups, working with volunteers and champions to reach new readers and increase capacity, reach and impact.
Places cost £195 per person and £175 for each subsequent delegate from the same authority
To book places, complete this booking form
Places cost £195 per person and £175 for each subsequent delegate from the same authority
Chatterbooks training
Chatterbooks for schools
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.
Tuesday 11th May
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD
Friday 24th September
Newcastle Library, Charles Avison Building, 33 New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AX
Chatterbooks training for library staff
A one day training day provides an essential introduction for library staff new to Chatterbooks. It is also highly recommended for library staff who want to refresh or top up on previous training in this field. And if you're planning to start a Chatterbooks reading group in your authority, then this is also the training for you (or your staff).
You will come away with practical ideas of how to set up, run and develop a successful and lively Chatterbooks programme for your library service - and information on how you can evaluate your Chatterbooks groups' achievements.
Wednesday 24th February
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD
Friday 11th June
York Central Library,Museum Street, York, YO1 7DS
Places cost £195 per person and £175 for each subsequent delegate from the same authority
Complete this booking form to book a place.
For more information call Jenny Warner on 020 7324 2545 or email training
Reader Development overview
This one day course aims to enthuse and equip new members of staff with an understanding of reader development and how they can promote it. It covers how to recommend books and develop book dialogues in the library, using conversations, displays, special programmes and events, and online media. This is a fun, interactive day on how to get active with reading development. It covers basic guidelines, ideas for engaging readers, building on staff knowledge and experience, and some key promotions that can be used throughout the year as building blocks for your reader development offer.
As a result of this course, staff will feel more confident when talking about books and giving reading recommendations. They will also come away with practical and achievable reader development ideas and approaches.
Next date: to be confirmed
Reader development work with children
This one day course gives staff the confidence and skills to start developing their reader development work with children and young people. It's an active day in which we cover the basics of relating well to young people, how to make the library welcoming for this audience, and the key programmes that can be used as part of the reading offer, to help children and young people develop as readers.
As a result of the day, staff will come away with increased awareness, skills and confidence in working with young readers. They will know how to develop book knowledge, and feel more confident about using programmes, activities and discussion to engage with young people about books and reading.
Next date: to be confirmed
Big Book Share
This one day course is suitable for Prison librarians, prison staff; and public library
staff. Around 140,000 children are separated each year from their parents through their parents' custodial sentences. The Big Book Share exists to develop library/prison partnerships to enable offenders to read and record a story for their children, and from this to move to regular library use in the community on release. The programme started in 2000 in one prison, won CILIP's 'Libraries Change Lives' award in 2002 and has now expanded to over 20 prisons. The Big Book Share can be used to engage new male (and female) readers and build new reading audiences.
This course builds understanding of how the Big Book Share works and provides the knowledge and tools to set up a local project.
Next date: to be confirmed
Six Book Challenge for libraries
A one-day course for staff from libraries or organisations working with adult literacy learners, such as colleges. This course will equip staff to run the Six Book Challenge effectively, to get best value from the activity and to learn from the results. The Reading Agency's annual Six Book Challenge is increasingly being used to engage learners 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, literacy and informal adult learning and it supports tutors with student retention, progression and achievement for employability and Skills for Life.
This course will give practical ideas of how to develop local partnership, and how to plan and run the Challenge for maximum impact.
Next date: to be confirmed
Reader 2 writer events promotion
This new half day workshop equips staff to pitch for and run successful author events. Working with writers brings a new and important dimension to readers, and can inspire non-readers to pick up a book for the first time. Author events can be used in a variety of ways to develop communities of readers, to support reading group activity, to kick-start reader development programmes, and to promote engagement and cohesion. The workshop covers working with writers and publishers, and how to ensure a stress-free and successful event by thorough pre-planning.
This course is being run through regional reader development forums in 2010
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 library managers to demonstrate the impact reading services have on local authority priorities and Local Area Agreement targets.
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)
"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)
This course will run next in summer 2010
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.
More information is available on the reading agency website at www.readingagency.org.uk/young/
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 adult basic skills learners
We are currently developing a modular training and support programme based on the foundations laid by The Vital Link literacy and libraries programme. This will encourage capacity building in the library and related sectors to ensure staff have the skills and knowledge needed to engage and support adults with literacy needs. The programme will complement MLA's work to articulate how libraries, museums and archives contribute to the new integrated informal adult learning movement. This training will be available in the spring of 2010.
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 libraries. We are developing guidance to show how these two reading programmes support national and local priorities, and can be used together, in partnership with schools and extended schools, as a wrap-around package supporting children's reading throughout the year.
We can offer a training day showing how the programmes can be used together to improve outcomes and opportunities for children.
This programme is most suitable for a regional training day or for a cluster of neighbouring authorities.
To enquire about booking this course for your region or area, please contact Jenny.Warner@readingagency.org.uk.
We are also able to designing new courses as new needs emerge.
If you would like to talk to us about developing a new training day to meet your specific needs, please contact Jenny.Warner@readingagency.org.uk.