Reader in Residence

The Reader Organisation is a charity dedicated to bringing about a reading revolution because literature can be a force for social good and personal change. Its mission is to bring books to life. This means great literature reaching all kinds of people, in all kinds of ways. It aims to be the UK’s leading practitioner of shared reading.

Since June 2008, our business has been working with The Reader Organisation with one common purpose: to get books off library shelves and into the workplace. Bibby Line Group became the first business in the country to welcome a Reader-in-Residence, provided by The Reader Organisation, into its midst.

Last year Ella Jolly visited various Bibby Line Group offices and depots and set up reading groups, based on The Reader Organisation’s successful Get Into Reading model. These groups offer staff a forum for relaxation and the opportunity to share the pleasures of reading and discussing stories and poems together. Essentially, literature is used as a tool to improve communication, confidence and even team spirit. Ella also established the Books at Bibby Line Group blog and other web-based initiatives such as Poem for the Week and Reading Surgery. Since Ella's departure, the blog has been run by Mark Till. From January 2010, Amanda Brown will be responsible for posting poems, extracts and short stories to engage, intrigue and delight. It's also an opportunity for people to request poetry or prose, as well as exchanging book recommendations and reactions to personal reading.

Essentially, The Reader Project is striving to encourage a culture of reading at work, in the hope that this will make work a better place to be.

If you would like more information about the project, or simply want to chat about books; please contact Amanda on Amanda.Brown@bibbylinegroup.co.uk