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Neath Port Talbot (NPT) has a reading group programme, Hooked on Books (HoB),  which it runs with Swansea, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Bridgend.

At the outset each of us purchased 4-5 books each that would go into a set for groups to choose from.  Each of us would keep the books we had bought and send them out when required.  We buy sets of 10 for the groups and we choose the books with a mix of suggestions from readers and publications such as Newbooks and following things like Richard and Judy. 

Once books have done the rounds or when we replace them, the books go out into general circulation in libraries, some I have put into libraries as multiples and used as a reader recommendation promotion.  One of the benefits of setting up Hob, has been that, it allows us to start up new groups by giving them a choice when they come to the first meeting, and they can also pick what they want to read for the coming months.  If we were to go to a first meeting without a choice I think it would be difficult to choose the book.  What’s more, if it was a book we didn’t have, it would only give us four weeks to get the book in and out to the group.  By having these sets we are at least able to provide a book when the group wants them and it prevents us running around buying books on demand.

As the groups have grown in size – NPT has gone from 1-12 in the last 14 months it has become more difficult to sustain this as there is more demand on specific titles. What I have now done is bought a new set of titles myself that I will keep hold of and use for reading groups in NPT.  Doing this I can more or less guarantee that I will provide the book they want.  They will still be on offer to the other authorities. I have been able to convince those that need convincing that I should buy extra books and have a set myself because of the increased demand in reading groups.  So I see the first stage of HoB has being one of getting groups off the ground and now I am able to build on it.

• I don’t have a written reading groups strategy but reading groups are within the Reader Development strategy.
• Before staff take reading groups we do talk over issues involved in the group and I do keep in touch them all, but no specific training.
• Most groups are made up with a large portion of women.  Most readers would be over 40 and they would be library users.  I have readers however who don’t borrow from the library but want to come to be part of the group.  I do have younger people joining groups and taking part in them.  Almost all groups grow in numbers after the first meeting.  Readers vary from the person who reads a lot of bestsellers to the one who hasn’t heard of Dan Brown!
• I haven’t used a group in a library service consultation.  We haven’t held a consultation exercise for a couple of years.
• I have started off two groups, one in a sheltered home and the other at a health club. I think these would be seen as hard to reach in terms of library users.  At the health club not one member of the group is a regular library user. This group has been running for 5 months.  With the home, the audience is there, but what we needed to reach was the staff and that has been done.
• A couple of the groups do contribute to the HoB website.  Some are very good at supporting and helping out at events and also in publicity as they often belong to some other group.  One group is in the process of formalising themselves into a community group with the hope of obtaining further funding.  We did bring a group (U3a) into stock selection about three years ago before I got involved in them but that wasn’t successful for one reason or another.
• And one other point – at an event last week one group member showed me a file she is keeping of the reading group and events I have held at the library which pleased me.