Baroness Blackstone Launches First Nationally Coordinated Children’s
Reading Group Scheme
September 26th 2001: Baroness Blackstone and author
Jacqueline Wilson launch Orange Chatterbooks, a national network
of children’s reading groups, at Kensington Library.
Orange Chatterbooks is the first reading group scheme for children
in public libraries. Orange Chatterbooks reading groups will embrace
4-12 year olds, encouraging children to read adventurously, share
their enthusiasm about books and develop the confidence to formulate
and express opinions about reading. The project is a new Orange
Prize for Fiction educational initiative; it will be coordinated
by the library development agency, LaunchPad, and has Jacqueline
Wilson as its patron.
Jacqueline Wilson commented, " We all know how immensely
popular adult reading groups have become in the last few years
and it is wonderful that through Orange Chatterbooks, children
as young as four will now have the opportunity to take part in
reading groups and get so much enjoyment from reading and talking
about books."
As well as inspiring children to expand their reading horizons,
Orange Chatterbooks will support children’s library services
by encouraging families to visit their public library and enjoy
all it has to offer. Children borrow more than 100 million books
a year form public libraries, and an estimated 60% of primary
aged children visit a library at least monthly. Chatterbooks also
has strong links to government policy, supporting the National
Literacy Strategy, social inclusion and lifelong learning.
"I welcome this exciting new reading initiative for children",
commented Baroness Blackstone, Minister for Arts. "Orange
has already made an admirable contribution to literature and reader
development through the Orange Prize for Fiction and Orange Talks
Books at Work. I am delighted that they are now working together
with LaunchPad to focus on children’s reading groups, helping
develop children’s love and enjoyment of reading, supporting
children’s library services, and demonstrating the feasibility
of partnership between business and libraries."
Orange Chatterbooks will bring together groups of between ten
to fifteen children, who will meet on a monthly basis in their
local library. Each reading group member will receive a unique
of Chatterbooks materials to get them started, which will include
specially designed reading diaries, ‘post it’ review
notes, fortuneteller book choice games, pencils, magnetic bookmarks
and stickers. The group sessions will give children the opportunity
to interact positively and develop their confidence as readers,
by increasing the time they spend reading and sharing books. Children
will also have the opportunity to attend special events, such
as meeting authors and illustrators.
Orange Chatterbooks builds on the success of previous Orange
Prize for Fiction education initiatives, including Orange Talks
Books at Work and Orange Adult Reading Groups. The Orange Prize
for Fiction is the UK’s largest book award for fiction, and
is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman.
"Orange is committed to investing in the community in which
we operate and has a strong track record of promoting the value
of reading since the inception of the Orange Prize for Fiction",
commented Denise Lewis, Group Director of Corporate Affairs at
Orange. "Orange Chatterbooks is a new educational initiative
which will not only encourage the readers of the future, but will
support local library services nationwide."
Orange Chatterbooks will be co-ordinated by LaunchPad, the development
agency for children’s library services, and the scheme will
be piloted by three trailblazer authorities; Kensington &
Chelsea, Manchester and Plymouth. These authorities will be running
children’s reading groups in their libraries from September
2001 onwards. From January 2002 onwards Chatterbooks will rolled
out intensively across fifty library authorities nationwide, with
children’s teams running reading groups in at least two libraries
in each authority.
For further information on Orange Chatterbooks or to obtain a
pack of Chatterbooks materials, contact:
Jenny Stevens or Alice Regester at MacLaurin
Tel: 020 7471 6849/6877
Fax: 020 7371 4099
Email: jenny.stevens@maclaurin.com
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