ABOUT THE READER ORGANISATION
Jane Davis, Director, The Reader Organisation
A Reading Revolution!
‘People are dying – it is no metaphor – for lack of something real tocarry home when day is done.’
Saul Bellow,
Herzog
We used this quotation in 1997 in the very f irst issue of
The Reader
magazine. TheReader Organisation didn’t exist then, it was just a few friends who wanted to openup the exciting experiences we were having teaching the Literature programme inthe Department of Continuing Education at the University of Liverpool. We wererunning evening and weekend classes for adults willing to read and make real booksfrom Saul Bellow to Chaucer, via Shakespeare, H. G. Wells and Ann Michaels. Twelve years on and this magazine, which has been in continuous production ever since, is the voice of an independent charity which is bringing about a Reading Revolution: putting great books in the hands of people who need them. Amongst other activities, The Reader Organisation is currently delivering 128 weeklyread-aloud shared ‘Get Into Reading’ groups on Merseyside, and supporting the de- velopment of many more across the UK and beyond, particularly through our Readto Lead training programme. We work in schools, workplaces, community groupsand old people’s homes, and a great deal of our work is delivered in partnership with the NHS. NEWS THIS ISSUE:Get Into Reading has been highlighted in ‘New Horizons’, a new strategy by theDepartment of Health that will promote good mental health and well-being, whilst improving services for people who have mental health problems (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/News/Recentstories/DH_097701).One in four people will suffer poor mental health at some point in their life. Sharedreading of great books is a simple way to provide ‘something real to carry home’.
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