Reading Revolution was started in NZ in 2015 by Kate Middleton. She wanted to use free community spaces like libraries to socially connect isolated older people living alone in our communities. 

Kate discovered the work of The Reader Organisation (TRO) and was inspired to travel to Liverpool to train as a Reader Leader. Readers in Liverpool could not believe that she had traveled from NZ to attend their shared reading groups! Group members told her that shared reading also helped them with chronic pain, mental health issues, depression, dementia and addictions and TRO’s research supported these claims. 

Since 2015 we have been offering shared reading to many diverse NZ communities. In 2016 we became a registered charity with Judy Darragh, Ana Hiini and Lyn Thompson on our board. In 2018 Kate returned to Liverpool with volunteer Daniel Prasad and they qualified with TRO to train Reader Leaders in-house with the support of former Internal Affairs and Seniors Minister TRH Tracey Martin. 

We have grown from an initial group of friends and whanau into a vibrant volunteer based organisation working in close partnership with libraries.