There are lots of different ways you can take 10 minutes to read in your organisation and promote the wellbeing benefits of reading.
Read on for simple ideas to help you create a reading culture within your organisation and help support staff and customers’ wellbeing.
Simple ideas to help build a Take 10 moment
To help you get started, here are a few ideas that you could use on Friday 10 October and beyond!
These would work well in developing a reading habit and won't take much time to set up:
- Organise a book swap: encourage people to bring in books they no longer want and set up a time and place to swap them.
- Host a book break: you could host a coffee morning or create a diarised calendar reminder for everyone to stop what they are doing and take a break to read.
- Set up a virtual mass reading moment: using Zoom or Teams can allow all of your employees to join in.
Printable resources to support your Take 10 moment
The postcards and posters below are provided in print ready format.
How to encourage a reading culture in your workplace beyond Take 10 to Read
Help give longevity to the Take 10 moment by identifying and supporting a volunteer to become a Literacy Champion in your organisation. This individual or team can lead the way to a sustained reading culture in your workplace. By supporting on longer term, sustainable activities, they can help colleagues to build the habit of reading for 10 minutes a day to increase wellbeing.
Here are some suggested activities that could be organised by a staff volunteer:
- Create a book club to provide opportunities to try different books. Meetings could be hosted in person or virtually, and be themed by different genres such as crime, romance, or award-winning fiction.
- Set up a community bookshelf in your workplace for books to be donated and swapped. This could be an extension which has a longer 'shelf life' (!) for your book swap event.
- Create a notice board in your office or a virtual space for employees to share book recommendations with each other.
Additional tips and ideas
One way we create a reading culture at work
At the National Literacy Trust we share a ‘Poem of the Week’ which is sent to all our staff via email. A willing volunteer from within the organisation manages the rota and colleagues take it in turns to share a poem that means something to them. This gives everyone an opportunity to share something that resonates with them and connect with others who they may not work alongside day-to-day.
Books supporting mental health and wellbeing
Did you know that libraries offer ‘Reading Well’ collections? They are stocked with books that support you to understand and manage your wellbeing and that of those around you.
The books are recommended by health experts as well as people with lived experience of the conditions and topics covered. In your promotion of Take 10, you might want to let your staff know about the availability of these helpful book collections.
Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to seeing you #Take10ToRead!
Let us know how it went!
Whatever you decide, we hope you and your colleagues enjoy discovering new books, finding new ways to enjoy reading, and feeling the wellbeing benefits. We'd love to know how you have created your own Take 10 to Read moments and the impact these have had. Let us know how you get on by sharing on social media!
Find out other ways to support Take 10 in your organisation.
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