Across the Board: Autism support for families has won the 2009 CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award
The winner was announced by Andrew Motion at a special award ceremony held at the Umbrella Conference on the 15 July.
Winner
Finalists
Across the Board: Autism support for families - Leeds Library and Information Service
Watch a video about the project on Youtube
Listen to an audio recording (MP3, 3 Mbytes)
Can't access Youtube? Download the video from the CILIP website (MPG, 27.5 Mbytes)
The main user community for this project is families in Leeds who have children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), including Asperger Syndrome.
There are about 300 families in Leeds who have children with ASD.
Another 25 pre-school children are diagnosed by the Child Development Centres in Leeds each year. Children with autism have difficulty with social communication and social interaction. This can result in unpredictable behaviour and means that parents of autistic children may not see libraries as a natural venue where they could come for information, advice or guidance. Leeds Library and Information Service is working in partnership with STARS autism specialists and speech and language therapy specialists to change that perception offering sustainable services and support to this community. The project began after a parent requested the Boardmaker software which is a picture communication tool that can enable parents and autistic children to communicate with each other.
The scheme has helped families realise that ASD and associated communication and behavioural issues are more widely understood and accepted by library staff. Staff are supportive, offer practical help and run autism/Asperger monthly advice sessions in partnership with the STARS team.
The Edinburgh Reading Champion Project -
City of Edinburgh Council
Watch a video about the project on Youtube
Listen to an audio recording (MP3, 3 Mbytes)
Can't access Youtube? Download the video from the CILIP website (MPG, 27.5 Mbytes)
This innovative Edinburgh-wide initiative encourages reading for pleasure amongst looked after children and young people in residential care in Edinburgh. Children who do not have access to services because of disability, communication difficulties, neglect or abuse, difficulties with their education or those who present very challenging behaviours and are sometimes regarded as a threat to the community are often marginalised or excluded from mainstream services.
The Project encourages staff to help the most vulnerable young people discover the pleasures of reading, contributing to their self esteem, sense of attachment and educational achievement.
It employs a Reading Champion to develop 'bespoke' reader development programmes in partnership with looked after children, carers, library staff and other partners. Central to the project is influencing staff on the relevance of books and reading for looked after young people. The long term aim is to effect 'cultural change' in which care and library staff promote reading as normal activity in all centres.
This type of work - and the impact on people’s lives - is often long term.
Six Book Challenge - The Reading Agency in Association with Costa Coffee
Watch a video about the project on Youtube
Listen to an audio recording (MP3, 3 Mbytes)
Can't access Youtube? Download the video from the CILIP website (MPG, 25 Mbytes)
The Six Book Challenge is an exciting new annual scheme designed to encourage adults to read for pleasure. A simple but powerful device, it invites them to read six books and record their reading in a diary in order to be rewarded with incentives and a certificate. This national scheme is delivered locally by 152 library authorities across the UK working with partners such as FE colleges, prison education and trade unions. Libraries play a central role in supplying appealing books, reaching out to participants, celebrating their achievements and offering them a way of sustaining their new reading habit.
Library services featured in this application include Staffordshire, West Sussex, Warrington, Sheffield, Renfrewshire and the Western Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland.