South West Region of Readers App

The positive impact and outcomes of reading and creativity are wide-ranging and known to support health, wellbeing, intellectual, personal and social development.

The innovative Region of Readers project is about reading for pleasure and wellbeing and is taking place in geographic areas of regeneration. The project involves six library services in South West England in partnership with Literature Works (the literature development agency for the region), The Reader (a charity running shared reading groups) and SWRLS (the South Western Regional Library Service). The project aims to support reader development through curated literature resources and engaging communities in shared reading activities, creating cultural content, and cultural events. The project is funded by an Arts Council England grant as part of the Libraries Opportunities for Everyone Innovation Fund programme.

The digital app is one of three main project strands. It will provide people with ways into reading and into the other two project strands, which are the shared reading groups and cultural activities. It will also help promote improved literacy, reading for pleasure and increased digital skills.

The app builds on the strong track record of the South West Reading Passport, an annual print booklet promoted by South West libraries, featuring a different themed and curated reading list each year. This year, that content will be delivered in app form for the first time.
The Region of Readers web pages, currently hosted on the Literature Works website, will sit alongside the app.

We are looking for a fun, accessible and attractive approach to developing our app. We want it to appeal to the widest possible range of potential readers, rich with interactive content, easy to use and easy for project partners to populate.