The Reading Room

The library has been home to a media group since 2008. Originally started as a youth activity group, it has grown up with the participants and some of the original members now help to lead the group.

In 2014-15 the group received funding to create an online video and audio podcast. Called “The Reading Room”, it is about the libraries, literature, storytelling and a general love of books.

The project worked with two age groups – primary school aged children and young adults. In total they produced 27 episodes for online distribution. This included a group of 7 mini episodes about the James Reckitt Children’s Book Awards and 7 mini episodes about the Summer Reading Challenge. These episodes were shared on social media by The Reading Agency, Diana Johnson MP, book publishers, authors and other libraries from around the country.

Toward the end of the project the group showed a sample of The Reading Room to Estuary TV (the local TV channel for this region). They were so impressed that they offered to take the show as a series. So a further set of episodes of The Reading Room were produced specifically for broadcast, with the possibility of producing more local TV content in the near future.

For more information on The Reading Room visit the website

Award £14,100