How do I join Reading Friends? 

To join Reading Friends you will need to find your local Reading Friends group here. 

What should I do if Reading Friends isn’t running in my local area? 

If there isn’t a group in your local area, then please register your interest, and sign up to our newsletter via our website. We’ll keep you up to date with all of our Reading Friends news.  

How do I set up/start a Reading Friends project?

Reading Friends is delivered by organisations to ensure that everyone gets the best experience when taking part in the programme. We believe that this model also ensures that our participants are safe, and that organisations have the relevant expertise and policies in place. If you are an organisation interested in taking part in the programme, please register here.

How can I become a Reading Friends volunteer?

Reading Friends is delivered by partner organisations across the UK. You can find your local group using our Find Reading Friends Near You map. Please contact your local partner organisation directly, using the contact details given on the location page, to find out more about volunteering opportunities. Please be aware that some of our local projects are small or new so there may not be any opportunities there yet. If this is the case, please register your interest here.

I’ve registered my interest in Reading Friends, but the project is still not running in my local area. Why is this? 

• Reading Friends launched a new trial phase of our subscription model in 2019. We invited libraries that had previously expressed interest in taking part to join the programme. To ensure that we provide all Reading Friends projects with the highest level of support, the initial rollout reached 20 libraries that are diverse in geographic and thematic scope. We believe that this approach will allow us to increase the reach of Reading Friends without compromising the quality of the service that we deliver.  
• These libraries will also help us refine and perfect our subscription offer, which we plan to roll out more widely in 2020.  

Why can’t I access the Reading Friends resources?  

Access to Reading Friends resources is managed by the Reading Friends team, and is only available to organisations that are subscribed to Reading Friends and agree to the Partnership Agreement. If you have registered for an online account for use with another Reading Agency programme, you will not be able to access locked Reading Friends resources with that account. You must be part of an existing Reading Friends project to access the resources.  

Reading Friends projects  

How do I create a passport account? 

• To sign up to the Reading Friends website and access resources, you will need a Reading Agency Passport account. Click here to get started. 
• Enter your date of birth and click Continue. 
• Fill in your email address and the rest of your details, and then click Submit. 
• Once you have your passport account, let us know, and we will grant you access to the relevant Reading Friends resources within the next 48 hours.  
• You can start using your Reading Friends account to access resources, the digital toolkit, and much more. 

Why can’t I access all the Reading Friends resources? 

• You will have a different level of access to resources based on whether you are a Project Coordinator or a Volunteer. If a particular resource is not accessible to your role you will see the message ‘You do not have access to this resource’.
• If you are a Project Coordinator and would like to give a volunteer access to resources, please ask them to create a Reading Agency Passport account here. Once they have done this, please email us and we can grant them access to the Resources Library.
• If you are experiencing any other issues accessing resources, please get in touch with us.