The Reader is an organization that enables anyone to join and appreciate a fantastic book. The goal is to create an environment in which individuals feel at peace. Reading out loud to others is a unique experience.

Jane Davis founded The Reader journal in 1997 and the Shared Reading around the same time, focusing on those who need it.

Less than 1% of the public in the UK studies English Literature at the universities. Jane established The Reader since she wanted everyone to be able to experience the pleasures of reading.

The Reader is a nationwide organization that seeks to spark a Reading Revolution.

The Reader supports live reading and pedagogical group programs like Get Into Reading, which explores the therapeutic effect of reading ('bibliotherapy').

The Reader collaborates with similar arts in health organizations in the United Kingdom.

If you’re interested in unveiling the motivating story of Jane Davis, continue reading about the story behind The Reader.

Breaking the Bond

Jane is the firstborn of four children, raised in Merseyside, Northwest England, during the 1960s. Growing up in a family of divorced parents, Jane ran away from home when she was 12 years old. Young Jane, brokenhearted, had to leave her home behind to escape the unbearable atmosphere brought upon by an alcohol-addicted mother. Jane bore her first daughter at the age of 18 and attended a women's dwelling community as part of the mid-1970s female liberation revolution.

Struggling to make ends meet, Jane established a variety of business ventures, which include a women’s newspaper. Finally, literature assisted her in gaining independence from the restrictions of the political environment that was surrounding her.

The Beginning of the Reading Revolution

Jane leaned on books for clarity, steadiness, and courage throughout her life. After graduating from high school with only two GCSEs, she chose to return to college to study English Literature at the University of Liverpool. As a student, she was deeply dissatisfied with the way literature was introduced and studied academically.

Literature analysis and ideology, she felt, had lost any sense of the essential value of reading. Jane established evening seminars as a Ph.D. student to provide a fresh method for adults to connect with literature. In contrast to previous literary seminars, Jane motivated her classmates to read for pleasure rather than analytically evaluating the text. She was taken aback by the intense response this elicited, with classmates sharing their life tales and perceptions.

The Risk Was Worth It

Jane made the decision to launch The Reader, a literary journal, in 1997 to popularize the concept of shared reading after witnessing the influence that open book debates have. She persuaded high-profile writers and representatives of the society to participate in the magazine for free.

Engaging in penning pieces that examined the esteemed writers’ personal relationships with excellent publications, The Reader stood out. Differing considerably from the standard literary criticism published by rival publications, Jane’s project was getting the boost needed.

With time, she amassed a steady audience of 700 individuals who registered to the journal and she managed to make it accessible by offering it to local institutions and libraries. Now, even after 15 years, The Reader is still in existence.

Jane believed that the journal never accomplished its initial goal of demonstrating that shared reading might have a significant impact on altering people's lives. As a result, Jane chose to pass over the magazine's editorial position. The Reader’s founder decided to focus on moving her shared reading workshops out of academic buildings and into the community. In 2002, she started two weekly sessions in an impoverished community called Wirral, asking locals to introduce reading to those who are not the typical reader type.

Jane has just introduced a new community-led approach, so picking the appropriate collaborators to assist her to expand her work throughout the UK has been a significant challenge for her.

The Reader aims to teach hundreds of thousands of individuals to offer Shared Reading in a variety of settings. Jane wishes to collaborate with people, charities, corporations, and organizations in the NHS and the general public. This is so she could deliver the medical and socioeconomic advantages of reading to people who need it the most. This is a component of The Reader's larger goal of making Shared Reading accessible in every community throughout the UK, and each new collaboration takes the Reader closer to achieving the goal.

Calderstones Mansion House has been the second most difficult undertaking, after going with the £5 million restorations plans of The Reader's HQ. It is an enormous and fascinating endeavor, but Jane is currently spending hours per week in conferences regarding wiring excavations and staircase riser restrictions. All of those are vital aspects of the construction, but it's not as enthusiastic work in the same way but is for the greater good at the end of the day.

Shared Reading is a transformative group activity that fosters connection, contemplation, and revelation.

Shared Reading enhances wellness and community by offering a creative and secure environment for people to discover their personal histories and establish meaningful interactions with others. A Reader Facilitator presents a portion of wonderful publications with a bunch of participants in Shared Reading, giving the lyrics of life via live reading aloud and conversation.

Great poetry, tales, and plays are chosen because they are packed with strong vocabulary through which people may examine their inner selves.

The Reader certainly is everyone’s cup of tea! Volunteers read with individuals of various ages, origins, and capacities, and anything is read aloud. Everyone is welcome to attend any of the programs, which are all open to joining.

A Shared Reading community would welcome anyone regardless of their reading habits, whether they’ve been reading their entire life or have never touched up a book before.

Stained Pages and Helping Hands

Jane believes that the NHS's future funding will continue to be a challenge, and she is concerned that waiting lists will become even longer, particularly for mental health treatment. More prophylactic health care will be critically necessary, and organizations like The Reader will perform an important role in delivering it.

Shared Reading is already known to increase overall well-being and happiness at The Reader, and it has a significant influence on individuals dealing with Alzheimer's and fibromyalgia. The funding of the project will be a significant problem. Jane firmly believes that businesses can and should create wealth for public benefit, and she is looking forward to creating more social companies at Calderstones, their international headquarters.

The Reader’s yearly turnover is officially projected to be $64.6M. The organization employs 200 people and increased its workforce by 5% last year. Their revenue per employee is expected to be $323,000.

The Reader has faced rivals and competitors just like any other business have. Family Action worth $159.6 million, Union Of Brunel worth $44.6 million, and South Yorkshire valued at $124.4 million are their top three competitors.

The organization moved to a new location on Calderstones Rd in Liverpool, Merseyside in the United Kingdom.

The Reader’s most unique traits are its volunteers who amount to more than 1000. The volunteers form more than 700 groups that cater to the reading needs of more than 11,930 readers per year.

The Reader Group was awarded the Development Award at the Social Enterprise Network Powerful Together Awards, honoring their constant progress, entrepreneurship, and endurance.

Double Down for Big Expectations

The Reader's objective for the upcoming five years is to be a center for Shared Reading in Liverpool and the surrounding North West, as well as a beacon for the Kingdom and the rest of the globe.

By 2022, the Reader hopes to establish 1,500 Shared Reading teams and one-on-one Shared Reading possibilities. Not stopping there, The Reader aims at getting 44,000 yearly visits as well, with 10% coming from financially deprived regions.

The Reader Today

The Reader organization works with individuals in regional libraries and nursing homes, and also with troubled youngsters, schools, and parents.

Jane’s The Reader also reaches to those rehabilitating from addictions and those involved in the criminal prosecution sector.

The Reader is developing a new Shared Reading concept that will allow it to expand by community-led and delivered programs. Their work goes forward to promote people's well-being, eliminate loneliness, and strengthen relationships. A year-long assessment of The Reader's mission and values resulted in the new model.

The Reader’s values summarize everything they strive for and how they accomplish things. Reading is also about paying attention to and comprehending people’s behaviors, people we don’t know, and the world in general.

To get a deeper understanding of themselves and the reality surrounding them, The Reader engages in both forms of reading and contemplation with those in need.

The Reader strives to create their own patterns and place a premium on creativity, insight, and daring in all aspects of The Reader. The platform takes responsibility for making The Reader the best it can be - they pick up trash, speak up when they make a mistake, and identify and solve unexpected issues.

Becoming part of The Reader will make a change to your life and probably, working with the less fortunate might relieve yourself and them from the hardship of life.