I am in the early stages of developing a proposal for a book for Facet Publishing (http://facetpublishing.co.uk/) exploring the impacts of reading for health and wellbeing. It will be aimed at library/information studies professionals, students and researchers and will draw together contributors from across library sectors and regions to reflect on current practices.
The book will encompass all aspects of ‘bibliotherapy’ in its widest sense, defined as: “The therapeutic use of books and other materials with individuals or with groups of people” (Howie, 1988). This includes activities:
- Involving people of different ages (e.g. children/teenagers, adults or older people)
- Focused on people with a particular condition (e.g. depression) or concerned with promoting wellbeing more generally
- Working with individuals (e.g. Books on Prescription) or groups (e.g. shared reading)
- Focused on specific groups (e.g. ethnic minority groups, LGBT communities, people with specific disabilities) or a more general audience
- Making use of self-help books or imaginative literature or other media (e.g. images)
- Taking place in a traditional library setting (e.g. public library, health information service) or in other locations (e.g. community venues)
- Run as short term projects or as embedded services.
- Brief description of the project: What are you doing? Are you following a particular ‘model’ of bibliotherapy? Who is the audience?
- Aims: What do you hope people will gain from participating?
- Outcomes: What have people actually gained from participating?
- Reflections: What are you most proud of? What would you do differently?
If you are involved in an interesting case study, but are unsure about writing a chapter, please get in touch; I’m happy to discuss co-authorship or other ways of contributing.
