Reader development approaches work with a variety of audiences.  Reader development seeks to reach the people who don't think reading is for them, those who lack the skills to find reading enjoyable, as well as the apparently confident reader who may be limiting their enjoyment through lack of confidence. Many keen readers will stick to a favourite genre because of the assumption that no other format will deliver the same satisfaction.

The image of reading as a form of escapism is probably the predominant one. Of course, everyone enjoys a really good escapist read.  It takes you out of yourself, it passes the time if you're bored, it relaxes you if you're stressed.  But that isn't the only reason people read and, the more we work with readers, the more we realise that enjoyment is a more eccentric thing than we sometimes think.  It is possible to 'enjoy' a read which is disturbing, challenging or even depressing.  People's pleasure is a very complicated concept; we read, for example, to help us find answers for the big issues in life - this can very often be quite a bumpy ride.

The experiences we had as readers at school can stay with us the rest of our lives.  A bad experience can leave somebody feeling unconfident about their own abilities as a reader and also unconfident that there is anything in the world that they might like to read.  Reader development focuses on the potential and excitement of reading, and shows how people can fit it into their lives.