People's Network
About Read services
Read helps people to get more from books and reading. It lets people share their reading with other people, either on the web or through public libraries, and it also lets people explore lots of useful websites about books and reading. Read enhances the unique relationship and tradition that libraries have with books and reader development.
reader2reader
reader2readerhttp://www.reader2reader.net is a brand new way for readers to engage with other readers online, based on a peer2peer model where a community of readers can grow organically.
It’s a site where readers can tell others exactly what they think about books they’ve read - good or bad. You might encourage someone else to give your recommended read a try, or warn them off something you think was over-rated.
You can chat live online with others about books and reading and join an online reading group. You can drop in to find a good read or leave your comments about the book you’re in the middle of or have just finished.
The site is shaped by the readers who use it. Whatever kind of reader they are, they’ll find like minds with strong opinions and lots of books to recommend. Public library staff are encouraged to contribute to discussions and help develop the service and integrate it into offline reading activities. For more information see How to contribute to Read.
If people want to try a new kind of reading group, here is the answer, available at any time, from anywhere, online, and if they like doing this online, they can also always find a more traditional reading group through a public library from the People’s Network Find a reading group service.
Find a reading group
Reading is a great way for people to meet other people, with hundreds of reading groups up and down the country which meet regularly through public libraries to share their love of books and reading and now people can search nationally for a reading group that’s just right for them.
All People have to do when they visit the national public library reading group site, www.readinggroups.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk, is to enter a postcode and choose the type of group they want and they will then get information about reading groups they are interested in. Public libraries are encouraged to update their information about reading groups all the time so that people can always find the latest information. For further details on this see How to contribute to Read.
Reading links
There is now so much choice on the web to help people get into the right read and develop their reading.
Many of these sites are managed by libraries, drawing on the skills staff have in offering advice and support to readers, and several have been created by readers themselves so they do exactly what readers want them to do.
Reading links are arranged by the type of reading audience they address, so that people can more easily find the most suitable websites for them and in the future, improvements will be made to the way that Reading links are managed and presented to people, by further joining up with Discover systems.
Libraries are encouraged to continue to add to Reading links over time, for more information see contributing to Read.