Vice President CILIP Children’s Author and School Library Consultant Dawn Finch Vice President CILIP Children’s Author and School Library Consultant

Reading – the wider outcomes The research found that reading for pleasure resulted in a wide range of benefits that went far beyond literacy. In August this year the Reading Agency released the Wider Outcomes of Reading report. I was on the steering group of this report and the purpose of it was to look at the wider benefits of reading for pleasure. As frontline professionals we know that people who read have better lives, we believe in what we do and we know the positive impact of our service points – but this report gives us tangible data, evidence. So let’s look at the evidence.

Reading – the wider outcomes The most consistent outcomes reported were the ability to learn about the self and others, learning about diverse human populations and other cultures. Respondents who read more frequently were also reported to have an enhanced ability to understand people's class, ethnicity, culture and political perspectives Studies with adults have found reading for pleasure increases empathy; even when accounting for characteristics such as openness, tendency to be drawn into stories and gender, exposure to fiction is a strong predictor of empathy

Reading – the wider outcomes In addition to the health benefits, reading for pleasure has social benefits and can improve our sense of connectedness to the wider community. Reading increases our understanding of our own identity, improves empathy and gives us an insight into the world view of others.

Reading – the wider outcomes Reading also seemed to reduce the risk of dementia, with frequent readers having lower incidence of dementia in later life. Evidence showed a correlation between reading for pleasure regularly and lower levels of stress and depression throughout their lives.

Reading – the wider outcomes Recreational reading can support positive parenting and programmes to encourage parents to read with their children can improve parent-child communication Reading has been shown to greatly improve the quality of the parent-child relationship and in. and with their wider families turn prolong their ability to communicate with each other

Reading – the wider outcomes Reading for pleasure is an important way of combating issues such as social isolation, teenage depression, negative self-image and social and educational disengagement. Reading for pleasure can make an isolated and depressed young person feel better about who they are, and more confident about the importance of the place that they occupy in the world.

Reading – the wider outcomes The findings indicated that reading for pleasure is positively associated with a greater sense of community, a stronger feeling of social inclusion, a stronger ability to enjoy social occasions, and enhanced openness and talkativeness I particularly like this photo from Paterson, North Jersey  Five days before the deadline to enroll in health insurance, uninsured county residents charged ahead with sign-ups at the Paterson Free Public Library, often overcoming challenges posed by language, immigration status, website errors and long waits on the phone. Faced with all these problems and a looming deadline – what did people do? They went to their public library and asked the librarian. Perry and Sawyer, the counselors, were to have been at the library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday but ended up staying past 2:30 to help a total of 30 people. With each, the counselors ran through the same questions: "Are you currently working?" "You’re a New Jersey resident?" "Are you disabled?" "Can anyone claim you as a dependent?“ One man said “the only way I can describe it is that I finally feel relieved.” Patterson -

Reading – the wider outcomes Enjoyment of reading is a central outcome and a prerequisite for many of the other outcomes of reading to be achieved. Libraries, and the love of them, are key to this process

How does this relate to libraries? Reading – the wider outcomes How does this relate to libraries? Access Guidance Privacy Trust Security Reliability Access to books and other materials that can broaden life experience Guidance through a huge variety of material so that people can find the right information or fiction for them Privacy – a professional librarian adheres to a code of conduct and we respect and protect privacy Trust – the one word that most frequently comes up in surveys about libraries and librarians is trust. We are the most trusted members of our communities and that is essential to wellbeing Security – the library is a safe and secure place for people who might have no other place of safety. Libraries are the one safe haven in our community Reliabilty – for all of the reasons above we are there to offer a solid rock to cling to. For people who are fragile, or in need of support, or for young people who are struggling to find their identity we occupy a place of reliability and consistency in an otherwise unstable world. This is why public libraries are so much more than books, and why the campaign to save public and mobile libraries is so important. To understand what you do, and to see how important they are to our communities, is to protect a better way of life for everyone.

vice.president@cilip.org.uk Dawn Finch Children’s Author and School Library Consultant You can access the full report and a list of all studies used on the Reading Agency’s website as well as on the CILIP blog pages – search Dawn Finch Who are we? We are librarians, and this is just a fraction of the good that we do for society