The Reading Revolution is building stronger communities; connecting people through great literature using shared reading groups. We train Reader Leaders and provide a shared reading community for New Zealanders.
The Reading Revolution provides access to great literature. We run shared reading groups where participants listen to short stories and poems read aloud.
Reading aloud gives a different experience of reading for both the listeners and the reader. It naturally slows the text down and creates a relaxed atmosphere. We read slowly so that we have time to think along with the reading!
The group discusses ideas, thoughts and feelings about the readings. Together we mull over different parts of the story or poem that strike us as interesting or that we relate to. Sharing our thoughts provides a richer interpretation than we can achieve when reading alone.
Our Reader Leader weaves together all the personal responses to create a unique interpretation of the text. We feel collective joy and achievement in what we have created.
The connections between us as group members are strengthened each week and the connection between us and the literature is something we can take home!
Volunteering as a Reader Leader or support person is a wonderful opportunity to give back to your community. We build Shared Reading teams of librarians and volunteers working together to create safe spaces for our diverse community groups to connect through great literature. We are a volunteer led organisation with service at the heart of all we do and we look forward to working with you!
Need more confidence and skills for starting and facilitating book chats/ reading groups in your library?
It's interesting what people feel they can talk about, either something that helps someone else or by talking about the story but not ourselves directly.
Juliet Batten has a PhD in English and taught English, Women’s Studies, and Environmental Studies at the University of Auckland, before working for twenty-six years
Each month we feature the work of a NZ or Pasifika writer through the lens of shared reading. We ask our Reader Leaders to use a short story or poem by our featured writer and contribute feedback on how the work was used within their community. We conclude each month with a fabulous event for our community. Some of these events will feature the writers themselves and they will be held in person or via Zoom. Through ALH we want to strengthen our communities’ connection to our local literature, authors, publishers and booksellers.
The Read to Lead training course has been developed over 25 years in the UK by The Reader Organisation UK https://www.thereader.org.uk/ and we have been delivering the training here in NZ since 2018.
Read to Lead is currently delivered over 6 modules via Zoom and takes 3 weeks to complete. We deliver the modules on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am – 1pm. Through this experiential and fun training you will develop the skills to begin your journey as a reader leader and serve your community with current best practise.
We now provide Read to Lead training over Zoom for new Reader Leaders. Read to lead has been developed over 20+ years by The Reader Organisation UK. We partner with TRO to provide the highest quality training and ensure best practice is observed so you can serve your communities confidently.
The training is the same for paid professionals and volunteers. Training is free for volunteers and Auckland based librarians only. There is a small fee for other paid professionals and also out-of-Auckland librarians as our charity’s funding is Auckland based.
Read to Lead is 6 x 4 hour modules delivered over 3 weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am-1pm via Zoom. If we are able to teach in person it is three full days.
Shared Reading sessions are usually 90 minutes which covers a short story and a poem.
Shared Reading sessions are free to attend. We read aloud during the sessions. Reading aloud ensures that we are inclusive of people who are blind or with low vision, people with perceptual reading impairments, people on medication or with mental health issues, people with English as an additional language and many other diversities.
You will need a quiet space with a table and chairs, a tea trolley and one photocopy of the story and poem for each participant.
Groups are usually weekly so that they meet often enough to generate trust and goodwill. Meeting regularly means people feel safe to share personal feelings, thoughts, reflections and insights.
A shared reading group offers a diverse group of people the chance to personally interact with great literature, experience achievement with group learning and connect/ reconnect with their community in a deep and meaningful way.