Books Can Be the Best Medicine: A New Chapter for Mental Health Prescriptions in Wales

Jun 27, 2019

From 26 June, health professionals in Wales will be able to prescribe free library books to assist people in managing their mental health or dealing with difficult feelings and experiences in what experts behind the scheme are calling ‘bibliotherapy’.

The Reading Well Books on Prescription for mental health scheme has been developed by The Reading Agency and public libraries, leading health organisations including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Mind, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Psychological Society and the Royal College of Nursing, as well as individuals who have personal experience of mental health needs and their relatives and carers. The scheme is being launched in Wales following its success in England which has seen 931,000 people borrow over 2 million Reading Well books from public libraries. Debbie Hicks, The Reading Agency’s Creative Director, said: “One in four of us will face a mental health issue at some point in our lives. Reading has proven power to help people manage their own mental health and wellbeing. We are delighted to be launching this life-changing programme in Wales, with many of the books available in Welsh for the first time, enabling the scheme to reach even more people.” Free copies of the books will be available to members of the public to borrow from all 22 public library authorities in Wales from 26 June, as well as supporting promotional material including leaflets containing the booklist. The Reading Agency is working with Welsh Books Council to translate most of the books into Welsh and all programme materials are bilingual. The books can be recommended by a health professional and borrowed free of charge from a local library, or users can self-refer and borrow the titles as they would any other library book. Professor Neil Frude, a consultant clinical psychologist and founder of the original Book Prescription Wales initiative, said: “Reading Well Books on Prescription for mental health in Wales is a useful and highly cost-effective additional resource for providing psychological help for many people across the principality. It is estimated that there are currently over 400,000 adults in Wales with a diagnosable mental condition. Thankfully there are several highly effective ways of delivering psychological help, including the use of self-help books written by expert clinicians, otherwise known as ‘bibliotherapy’. “The beauty of this scheme is that it recommends the very best books and delivers them freely through the public library service. In this way the scheme has the added benefit of bringing more people into the library, that precious community asset, where they will find many other resources that can help to boost their wellbeing, to build resilience and to thrive.” The collection of 37 books includes health information, self-help and inspirational personal stories such as Reasons to Stay Alive by award-winning author Matt Haig, which explores his personal experience of coming close to committing suicide at the age of 24, and The Recovery Letters, an anthology of heartfelt letters written by people who have recovered or are recovering from depression. Author Malan Wilkinson from Caernarfon, North Wales, an ambassador for Reading Well Books on Prescription for mental health said: “It’s been a year since I wrote my book about living with a mental health condition and it is true to say that reading and writing about my experiences has been invaluable for my own health. After six years of living with mental health problems, it’s wonderful to see this scheme being launched in Wales. Having this collection of 37 self-help books will be of great assistance to people across the country.” Ainsley Bladon, Mental Health Strategy Lead at Welsh Government, said: “The Reading Well scheme, funded by Welsh Government, presents a wonderful opportunity in Wales – to continue the legacy of our Book Prescription Wales scheme, to empower individuals to manage their own wellbeing using public health approaches, and, uniquely, to offer a full range of Welsh language titles in our libraries, representing one the biggest ever translation projects undertaken in Wales.” Nic Pitman at SCL Cymru said: “Public Libraries are vital community hubs for health and wellbeing support, and this list of expert-endorsed titles is another way we can support public health in Wales. SCL Cymru is enormously excited to work with The Reading Agency to deliver this programme that has been widely endorsed by health professionals as part of our drive to promote good mental health.” The scheme aims to make health information publications more readily available to members of the public. Reading Well Books on Prescription in Wales has been launched by The Reading Agency and Society of Chief Librarians Cymru and is funded by the Welsh Government. For more information about the Reading Well Books on Prescription for mental health visit: https://reading-well.org.uk/wales

New Books in the Reading Well Wales Scheme

Jun 27, 2019

The Welsh Books Council is delighted to announce the publication of the first Welsh-language adaptations of titles dealing with mental health from the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme. Working with the translation company Testun, we have been able to translate the first four out of 20 selected books into Welsh in time for The Reading Agency’s launch of the scheme in Cardiff on 26 June. The books, published by Y Lolfa, are: Cyflwyniad i Ymdopi â Gorbryder Cyflwyniad i Ymdopi â Galar Cyflwyniad i Ymdopi ag Iselder Canllaw Bach Sheldon i Ffobia a Phanig Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Welsh Books Council, said, “Having books of this nature available in Welsh is of the utmost importance to us. It is a big project to bring into being, one that involves the hard work of many people – translators, editors, designers and publishers. We are thrilled that these first four books will be available in libraries and bookshops across Wales to offer help and support to readers. It is hoped that these books will inspire original work in the Welsh language, as well as offer advice and guidance to those wishing to use self-help reading to understand an array of mental health conditions.” For more information on these titles, please go to http://www.gwales.com/home/?lang=CY&tsid=2

Avid Readers Shine at BookSlam Finals

Jun 6, 2019

Pupils from Cyfarthfa Park Primary, Methyr Tydfil, BookSlam 2019 winners. A team of avid readers from Cyfarthfa Park Primary School, Merthyr Tydfil, have been crowned the 2019 Champions of BookSlam, the Welsh Books Council’s annual reading competition for children. The national round, held recently at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, saw hundreds of pupils from primary schools throughout Wales competing for the national championship. Their task was to impress the judges in two rounds, namely a 10-minute discussion and an 8-minute dramatic presentation based on their chosen books. At the end of an exciting day, Cyfarthfa Park Primary School, Merthyr Tydfil, was crowned the overall BookSlam Champions, having impressed the discussion judge with their knowledge of the book Flight by Vanessa Harbour. In the presentation round they performed their own interpretation of Rugby Zombies by Dan Anthony. During the day’s activities, children and teachers also enjoyed a fantastic presentation by author Shoo Rayner. The adjudicators this year were Pam John for the discussions and Anna Sherratt for the presentations. Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Welsh Books Council, said: “The aim of BookSlam is to get children from all over Wales reading. By discussing and performing what they have read, the pupils gain a deeper understanding of some of the wonderful children’s books we have here in Wales. It was a great pleasure to see the youngsters brimming with enthusiasm during the national round of BookSlam, and our thanks go to the dedicated and hard-working county organisers, teachers and other supporters that make these events possible.” The 2019 runners-up were Ysgol Penllwyn, Ceredigion with Christ the King R C, Cardiff and Franksbridge, Powys Primary Schools in joint third position. Thanks to the support of Welsh publishers every child who took part in the competition was invited to choose a free book to take home as a memento of the day.