Open Book — Community Project
Open Book runs weekly shared reading and creative writing sessions for a diverse range of community and public participants across Scotland, from Stranraer and Eyemouth to the smaller islands off Shetland. These relaxed and informal sessions are designed to be as welcoming and accessible as possible, with all the reading done together as a group with the guidance of one of our trained Lead Readers. We currently run groups in 9 different areas: community, public, libraries, prisons, multicultural, healthcare, elderly/care homes, on the islands and in other languages. All groups have an opportunity to attend a Scottish book festival or author event each year.
Over the last twelve months, we have launched Open Book Unbound, a weekly programme of news, reading materials, podcasts and a digital writer in residence programme, to support our readers during lockdown and allow us to continue facilitating many of our groups via Zoom. We found that a lot of our participants were very anxious about becoming socially isolated, so the Unbound programme has been a lifeline of connection with others, and a chance to switch off from the news with a good story and a poem.
This year’s community project, with support from Creative Scotland, has seen some exciting new groups in Scots, Gaelic and Arabic, as well as a group for LGBTQ+ participants and new island groups on Tiree and Uist. We have also expanded into South Ayrshire in recent months, working with the libraries team there to train new shared reading and creative writing Lead Readers. Since January 2021, we have built on our existing programme that takes inspiration from the work in art galleries with a Words + Images series, shining a light on art works from regional galleries and artists out with the central belt.
It has been rewarding to see so many new participants join our online groups who would not have been able to attend in person, for reasons of geography, disability, or caring responsibilities. One of the most recent additions to our programme has been a shared reading group especially for parents and carers in collaboration with Whizz Kidz, a charity that supports the families of wheelchair users across Scotland.
Find out more about Open Book Unbound and sign up for the newsletter on the Open Book website, or follow them on Twitter.
