Give a Book

Give a Book promotes books and reading in the hardest places. We work in prisons and with disadvantaged children. Our core belief is that to pass on a good read – to give a book – is a transaction of lasting worth.

Our prison reading groups and family reading initiatives build prisoners’ confidence and connections to the wider world. They help maintain family ties and contribute to a reading culture that supports rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Books are partly a private pleasure and connect the reader with themselves and their personal experience. Our reading groups allow that personal experience to be shared, compared and enriched through discussion with others. Being in a group can also help members connect with family by sharing recommendations and with the wider world of readers. The groups foster respect and mutual support which can be hard to find in prison. They also build prisoners’ confidence and help prisoners rethink themselves and their ambitions. In this way the groups help members develop a more positive sense of self and the possibility of moving towards change.
 
“It’s the most grown-up discussion I have in prison”
PRG Member

Our work with schools in disadvantaged areas, and with children in the secure accommodation network offers access to books and projects that develop their reading. This supports their ability to participate and succeed in education but also contributes to their wider well-being.

Legacies provide carefully selected new books to all our projects, which are fun, engaging, accessible and representative of the communities we are working with.