BIBLIOTHERAPY: THE RESTORATIVE POWER OF READING

A study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Librarianship

at

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

by

UTE MANECKE

August 2009

Acknowledgements

I want to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Barbara Sen, for all her help and advice with the dissertation. Moreover, I would like to thank her for all the time and support she had given me in many other ways and the encouragement and belief in me being able to carry out this project. I would also like to thank all the participants in my research as well as Sheffield Libraries for their co-operation. Finally, I want to thank the graduate students who helped me to pilot my research.

‘Reading means approaching something that is just coming into being.’ (Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveller)

Abstract

Background. Bibliotherapy has often been described in terms of reading being a means to healing (mental) health problems. Although attention has mostly been given to self-help material in this context, there has been some interest in fiction reading and its potentially restorative impact.

Aims: This research aimed to find out whether fiction reading increases feelings of wellbeing in the public library context in a more general way that is not restricted to individuals suffering from mental health problems and, if this is the case, in what way this is achieved. It also tried to point out the implications these findings might have for public libraries.

Methods: A questionnaire was developed and handed out to public library users. The sample size was 101 and the number of questionnaires returned was 97. The questionnaire results gave an initial overview of how patrons related fiction reading to wellbeing in the public library environment. These findings were then further explored through observations of reading groups in a public library and consecutive focus groups held with the reading group members. A sample of three reading groups was chosen.

Results: The great majority of public library users who read fiction claimed that fiction reading has a positive effect on them. Amongst the many benefits of fiction reading mentioned were the pleasure and enjoyment it offers to readers, the intellectual stimulation it can give as well as the widening of horizons and relief from stress or worries. Absorption in the reading material, which can be facilitated by a clear narrative and realistic characters, was reported to enhance the reading experience. The latter is seen as very personal. Most patrons who took part in the research frequented the library as often as once a week at least and the great majority of participants stated that coming to the library makes them feel good.

Conclusions: Both, the research literature and the fieldwork reveal the overall positive impact of fiction reading on people’s wellbeing. Public libraries have a big role to play to foster wellbeing through reading through the provision of a wide range of fiction material and active reader development, which could connect particular readers with particular books.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction 1 I. 1. The concept of bibliotherapy 1 I. 1.1 Creative bibliotherapy 1 I. 1.2 An extended definition of bibliotherapy 2 I. 1.3 Reading and public libraries 2 I. 2. Research question, aims and objectives 3 I. 2.1 Research question 3 I. 2.2 Aims 3 I. 2.3 Objectives 3

II. Literature Review 5 II. 1. Reading and its benefits 5 II. 1.1 The nature and value of fiction reading 6 II. 1.2 Reading choice in creative bibliotherapy 12 II. 1.2.1 ‘Best books’ and the canon 12 II. 1.2.2 Individual choice 15 II. 2. Public libraries and bibliotherapy 16 II. 2.1 Libraries as restorative places with a leisure function 17 II. 2.2 Reader development and advisory 19 II. 2.3 Reading groups in public libraries 22

III. Methodology 28 III. 1. Introduction 28 III. 2. Questionnaires 29 III. 2.1 Sampling 29 III. 2.2 Designing and administering questionnaires 30 III. 2.3 Data analysis 32 III. 3. Observations 32 III. 3.1 Sampling 34 III. 3.2 Observing 34 III. 3.3 Data analysis 35 III. 4. Focus groups 36 III. 4.1 Sampling 37 III. 4.2 Conducting Focus Groups 38 III. 4.3 Data analysis 38 III. 5. Ethical considerations 39

IV. Findings 41 IV. 1. Questionnaires 42 IV. 2. Observations 58 IV. 3. Focus groups 61

V. Discussion 77 V. 1. Reading in general 77 V. 1.1 Different modes of reading 77 V. 1.2 The nature of fiction reading 77 V. 1.3 The value of fiction reading 79 V. 2. Reading and public libraries 83 V. 2.1 Importance of libraries & leisure reading 83 V. 2.2 Reader Development & Advisory 84 V. 2.3 Reading groups 86

VI. Conclusions 92 VI. 1. Reading and wellbeing 92 VI. 2. Bibliotherapy and the library 92

VII. Recommendations for future research 94

Appendices 95 Appendix One: Questionnaire & Additional Findings from 95 Questionnaire Appendix Two: Observation Notes 102 Appendix Three: Question outline for focus groups, reflections 108 and analysed data

Bibliography 149

I. Introduction

I. 1. The concept of bibliotherapy The idea underlying bibliotherapy is anything but new and can, in fact, already be found in Ancient Greece where libraries were thought to have a healing influence on the soul (Riordan & Wilson, 1989). The term itself was introduced by Samuel Crothers in 1916 (Jack & Ronan, 2008; Jones, 2006). Bibliotherapy can be seen as “an umbrella term for related ideas for using books to help people with mental and physical health problems” (Brewster, 2008). It can take on different forms and be carried out in different settings. One distinction that has been made is that between self help and creative bibliotherapy (Brewster, 2007; Turner, 2008). Self help bibliotherapy, which has become widespread in recent years, usually involves book prescriptions by (mental) health professionals for particular health conditions. The library stocks the agreed titles, which the patient can pick up there. It is creative bibliotherapy though, which has been much less frequently used as part of a scheme1, which this research will focus on.

I. 1.1 Creative bibliotherapy In creative bibliotherapy, fiction is used to promote mental health (Brewster, 2008). This can be done in a rather unstructured way, which includes the use of reading groups, recommendations from staff and displays. This approach has also been called informal bibliotherapy. Creative bibliotherapy’s underlying tenet is that literature has a powerful potential that can contribute to emotional healing. Storytelling seems to strike a deeply human chord with individuals, which in turn can lead to the development of constructive solutions to problems and the transformation of destructive, unhelpful feelings. The interaction between book and

1 There are currently only two creative bibliotherapy schemes in the UK, which are Reading and You (Rays) in Kirklees and Get into Reading in Merseyside (Turner, 2008).

1 reader with its underlying processes of meaning creation and imaginative ventures is thus of central interest to understand these effects. Creative bibliotherapy has received less research attention (Hodge et al., 2007) and is also much harder to empirically validate in its impact (Riordan & Wilson, 1989).

I. 1.2 An extended definition of bibliotherapy This research aims to broaden definitions of bibliotherapy such as the one mentioned above by not restricting bibliotherapy to people suffering from mental health problems but by widening its application to anybody. The emphasis is thus shifted towards the use of fiction reading to increase people’s levels of wellbeing rather than to heal mental disorders. Wellbeing is associated with the cultivation of positive emotions such as joy, interest and contentment (Fredrickson, 2000). The latter thwart negative emotions that threaten to disable an individual and also broaden an individual’s way of thinking. As a result, an individual can build better resources for looking after themselves and for successfully confronting life’s various challenges. In this way “positive emotions are more than the absence of negative emotions” (Fredrickson, 2000), which can be compared to wellbeing being more than the absence of illness. Instead, wellbeing is linked to ‘a good life’ (Ereaut & Whiting, 2008), which is in all its subjectivity explicitly constructive and satisfying in nature. This shift towards wellbeing also emphasises the benefits and impact of fiction reading in general and not just in the case of mental ill health. Reading thus becomes central to people’s lives insofar as it can also maintain health and wellbeing.

I. 1.3 Reading and public libraries Public libraries are particularly suited to foster individuals’ wellbeing through reading fiction and to thus pursue the practice of creative, informal bibliotherapy. They are public institutions that are open to anyone, with most of their services – especially reading services – being free. One of their main responsibilities has been and still is the provision of reading material and, particularly recently, reader- centred events. Public library services try to be as inclusive as possible so that

2 everybody should ideally have the opportunity to benefit from the perusal of free reading material and events. In order to maximise the positive impact on patrons’ wellbeing that reading in the context of public libraries can have it appears crucial though for librarians to understand the nature of the reading process. This study tries to show in what ways librarians need to be in close touch with their readers and their readers’ needs and what this means in the context of reader development.

I. 2. Research question, aims and objectives I. 2.1 Research question:

• In what way can literature improve patrons’ sense of wellbeing (provided that it does) in the public library context?

I. 2.2 Aims:

• Ascertain whether fiction reading has a beneficial impact on public library users

If this is the case:

• Explore in what way public library users find fiction reading restorative • Investigate the implications of these findings for public libraries and librarians

I. 2.3 Objectives:

• Investigate the precise nature of the reading experience: include an exploration of the nature and benefits of different modes of reading (i.e. solitary reading, being read to and ‘reading’ together in reading groups) • Discover what effects reading has on patrons, i.e. what it offers them • Explore how the public library as a place with a leisure function can foster patrons’ feelings of wellbeing

3 • Explore what public librarians as bibliotherapists can do as regards stock selection and reader development to increase patrons’ wellbeing through literature

4 II. Literature Review

II. 1. Reading and its benefits

As pointed out above, the value and emotional benefits of reading have been acknowledged from at least as long ago as the time of Ancient Greece. In the course of the centuries, different modes of reading have been practised and associated with distinct advantages, some of which will be mentioned in this section and looked at in the context of their relevance today: From the period of the emergence of the first written language, the Sumerian language (Siren, 1992), about four thousand years ago, written words were intended to be read out loud (Manguel, 1996). Only when the words were spoken could they allegedly come to life and unfold their true potential. Full comprehension could only be achieved if the silent letters were pronounced and ideally accompanied by body movements. Particularly religious texts had to be read in this way. The act of reading and the act of speaking thus literally became one insofar as reading was conceived as a form of thinking and of speaking. Today this form of reading has become much more rare, which might partly be attributed to the dwindling belief in the spiritual power of the spoken word as well as a diminished esteem of the value of oratory, which used to be perceived as producing delight. Instead, the benefits of silent reading have come to be appreciated a lot more. Silent reading came into vogue much later and could in fact not be regarded as common before the ninth century (Manguel, 1996). It was then gradually considered as being relatively effortless and more conducive to reflection of the text as well as being more memorable. The reader thus did not meet the same kinds of restrictions and could also lay claim to an intimate knowledge of the book, which had become their own possession. This also implies that the book “is no longer subject to immediate clarification or guidance, condemnation or censorship by a listener” (Manguel, 1996: 51). Instead, reading becomes an intensely private act and is

5 treasured as such. In view of these advantages silent reading offers, it is perhaps not surprising that it has become the dominant mode of reading in our time. Associated with reading texts out loud was the process of being read to, which allowed, through the hearing of words, greater ease of making sense of the signs on paper (Manguel, 1996). The text also usually features a more unified identity, which involves a sense of unity in time and space, which emerges as a result of the reader’s conscious attempts at reading without skipping or going back to previous parts. The listener thus encounters a coherent, uninterrupted flow of the story, which they would rarely experience in their own solitary reading practice. At the same time, listening to a text that is being read out also deprives the listener of some of the liberty that is a part of the reading process: They are forced to relinquish their own pace for the book and are unable to give it an idiosyncratic tone or intonation, which becomes particularly crucial with regards to character voice. The experience of a text’s listener thus becomes at the same time more consolidated and less personal. Instances of texts being read out to others nowadays are the act of reading stories to children (Elkin, 2003), author readings (Ross et al., 2006) and audio books (Mayo, 2001). In this context, the ancient practice of storytelling frequently comes into play as well, which has seen a resurgence of interest in recent years (Vohs, 2008).

II. 1.1 The nature and value of fiction reading It should be acknowledged that fiction reading has also often been regarded in a negative light: Its critics mainly tend to denigrate it as escapism and as being an antidote to real life (Gerrig, 1993). These harsh judgements have been answered by descriptions of the powerful processes that are at work during the reading process and the delineation of the impact reading has on people. Against this background, children’s reading has received close attention to determine what an impact reading has on a child’s further development. Bettelheim (1976) in particular emphasised the transformative power of stories on children when looking specifically at fairy tales. In stark contrast to aforementioned allegations against fiction reading as an activity

6 that is set apart from the real world, Bettelheim (1976) places fairy tales and their readings at the very centre of life by imbuing them with the power of giving meaning to life and guiding children through existential situations, which address their inner lives. According to him, all aspects of a child’s personality such as their anxieties, emotions and aspirations as well as their imagination and intellect are taken into account in fairy tales. Personality development, which one could regard as a prerequisite to (emotional) wellbeing, is thus achieved through the child’s imaginative engagement with fairy tales, which works both on a conscious and an unconscious level. Bettelheim (1976) makes it quite clear that non-fiction would not achieve the same results: The delight we experience when we allow ourselves to respond to a fairy tale, the enchantment we feel, comes … from its literary qualities – the tale itself as a work of art. The fairy tale could not have its psychological impact on the child were it not first and foremost a work of art. (Bettelheim, 1976: 12) So far Bettelheim’s (1976) defence of imaginary stories and their benefits (on children) appear convincing in view of the overall enthusiasm particularly young children tend to display when first listening to and later reading stories. However, he goes beyond that by ascribing particular, closely defined developmental steps to a child’s reception of each fairy tale, which he describes in depth. This would suggest that the child’s cognitive and emotional reactions to the tales in general and to certain elements in them in particular are entirely predictable. Similarly, Appleyard (1990), extending the discussion of ways of reading to adults as well, claimed that in the course of their lives, readers take different, clearly identifiable roles when reading fiction according to which their personal development can be predicted: From enacting the roles of first players, then those of heroes and heroines in their childhood, readers then move on to allegedly become thinkers as adolescents, interpreters as literature students and finally pragmatic readers as adults. If these stages do not occur in this order, Appleyard (1990) declares that this equals a failure in development.

7 Whilst it appears plausible that a child might read somehow differently (for example, more literally and possibly less sceptically) from an adult and that reading the same text at different times during one’s life can be entirely dissimilar experiences - as Spufford (2002) claims when he recalls his own reading experiences -, it is questionable whether such a categorisation as Appleyard’s can in fact be called valid and also whether it is meaningful. Whilst particularly Bettelheim (1976) has made a strong case for the importance of fiction in everyday life, both he and Appleyard (1990) have to some extent failed to take individual responses to fiction reading material sufficiently into account.

The individual nature of reading fiction and the processes that are involved in it have been highlighted by Rosenblatt (1970), who stressed the relevance of a reader’s personal background to their response to the reading material. The context of reading thus becomes meaningful (Morse, 1984). Considering the reader’s reactions to a work of art as central to any consecutive interpretations of it, Rosenblatt courageously challenged the predominant mode of literary criticism at the time, New Criticism, which had turned away from the reader’s experience (Allen, 1991) and solely focused on the text itself as an autonomous entity (Appleyard, 1990). To her, reading any literary text is a unique experience, as the process involves the mind and emotions of some particular reader (Allen, 1991). In contrast to many other reader-response theorists, she was not interested in either the construction of an intended or implied reader or in the usage of literary jargon. Her interest was completely focused on the transaction between reader and text. By identifying different reading stances such as the aesthetic stance, which describes the full absorption in the text, and the efferent stance, which would probably equal skim-reading in order to merely get to certain bits of information, Rosenblatt addresses the question why we read and also identifies different literary experiences with different stances of reading (Allen, 1991). At the same time, Rosenblatt dismisses pure subjectivity in interpretation (Allen, 1991). Iser (1980) has a similar take on how readers engage with texts: He postulates that “the reader’s activity must also be controlled by the text”(Iser, 1980:

8 110). Stierle (1980) also rejects arbitrariness in the context of reception or infinite possibilities of creating meaning from a text: “The number and type of relationships that can be found in a fictional text are restricted; … , the boundaries of fiction are clearly determined” (Stierle, 1980: 97). To Culler (1980), the most puzzling aspect of literature is in fact “that a literary work can have a range of meanings, but not just any meaning” (Culler, 1980: 52). This argument seems compelling, as the statements and expressions made in the text are given material that by its very existence curbs the number of as well as the kinds of interpretations that are logically possible. On the other hand, there is still a lot which the reader can bring to a text and thus shape the text’s meaning. Iser (1980) explains this process by conceiving of gaps in the text, which the reader fills. In this way, Iser (1980) proposes an interactive relationship between text and reader, which ties in with Rosenblatt’s (1970) idea of the role of the active reader. It also makes sense to speak of a transactional view of reading where the text is conceived as “a system of response-inviting structures” (Appleyard, 1990: 9). Against this background, Todorov (1980) regards reading as a process of construction and draws a parallel here between the reader and the characters in a book: Whilst characters construct facts and other characters around them, the reader constructs the imaginary world from their own imagination. In psychotherapy, such a creative process that involves the imagination has often been seen as a prerequisite to emotional healing. This view is founded on the belief that “creativity is an inbuilt part of being human” (Hedges, 2005: 11). It can be inferred from this that creative processes such as those involved in reading are in fact essential to not just enhancing but also to maintaining emotional wellbeing.

Appleyard’s (1990) argument that stories form our central literary experience as well as the view that narrative offers us the freedom to conceive of the world in new ways demonstrates the power of narrative fiction in particular. Ross (1999) substantiates this argument when she points out that those texts that have made a difference in the lives of the readers she spoke to almost all had a narrative form. Banks (2008) moreover remarks that another attraction of the novel in particular is

9 that the latter deals with issues of what it means to be human and tends to attribute value to the individual. The benefits a reader gains from reading fiction are manifold: Psychotherapists once again emphasise psychological development (Jung, 1997; Allen Heath et al., 2005) and transformation, which goes hand in hand with greater authenticity and self- awareness (Hedges, 2005). Such development can be attained through identification with a character, with which the reader empathises (Rosenblatt, 1970) and which might serve as a model for identity (Ross, 1999). This usually means an increase in social sensitivity. Carter (2009) also acknowledges that empathy can be fostered through creative fiction reading, which could then, according to Usherwood & Toyne (2002) increase a person’s ability to relate to others and to thus successfully establish a connection with others (Ross, 2000). Spufford (2002) points out how knowledge of characters equips a reader to comprehend real people better, as perceptions of fictions are transferable. In this way, he argues convincingly, novels can easily make readers more interested in real life, not less. New perspectives can be gained through fiction reading, opening a larger set of possibilities, which could alter a reader’s belief, attitude or view of the world (Ross, 1999). Such cognitive transformations might be accompanied by changes in behaviour. Fiction provides readers with the opportunity to step outside their own time and place and become more aware of other cultures and societies. In this way, fiction reading becomes a key to a wider and bigger world, which is thus perceived in a different way. Reading fiction can therefore eventually transform lives (Carter, BBC4, 2009). Against this background, Usherwood & Toyne (2002) re-use the term ‘escapism’ giving it a positive meaning, as the ‘escape’ into other worlds here usually entails a widening of experience. Closely aligned with such a broadening of a reader’s mental horizon is the instructive aspect, which sometimes comes into it as well and which seems to be valued by fiction readers (Usherwood & Toyne, 2002). At the same time, instruction as such tends to remain a secondary consideration in fiction reading. It is often

10 regarded as an incidental benefit. “Readers choose books for the pleasure anticipated in the reading itself but then, apparently serendipitously, they encounter material that helps them in the context of their lives” (Ross, 1999: 785). Rosenblatt (1970) also mentions how literature could offer us an emotional outlet, engaging our senses more intensely and more fully than this is often possible in our everyday lives. It thus makes experiences possible that we would otherwise not have (Rosenblatt, 1970; Soneda, 2007). Relaxation (Usherwood & Toyne, 2002), catharsis (Allen Heath, 2005) as well as reassurance and confirmation of the self (Ross, 1999) can be the outcome of such an emotional engagement, which might involve laughter, melancholy, fear, enchantment, longing (Spufford, 2002) or any other feeling one could possibly think of. There is also the element of aesthetic pleasure involved in much of fiction reading (Usherwood & Toyne, 2002). This can be understood as the appreciation of language encountered through reading. In this context, metaphor as symbolic language has been identified as being particularly powerful to let readers experience and understand the world (McArdle & Byrt, 2001). In order to gauge how valuable aforementioned benefits of reading really are, Usherwood & Toyne (2002) discussed with the participants in their research about reading the possibility of a life without reading. Participants seemed to strongly feel that such a situation would entail a great loss and further described how they would feel empty and devastated. Some of them went even further and equated a life without reading with a loss of identity or even with death – a cruel death. Ross (1999) got similar responses in her research study, in which ‘heavy’ readers imagined life without reading as absence and deprivation and even struggled thinking of themselves as the same persons if they were not able to read. These statements clearly express how essential reading fiction is in these participants’ lives and how deeply it shapes their sense of self, as it is so “interwoven into the textures of their lives” (Ross, 1999: 787). A sense of wellbeing can – at least for the participants of these two studies - therefore not be achieved or maintained without reading fiction.

11 II. 1.2 Reading choice in creative bibliotherapy The fact that reading is in many ways a very individual act, which triggers different (emotional) responses in different individuals and even different reactions in the same individual over time, suggests that a range of different genres of fiction could potentially have a beneficial effect on different readers. At the same time, the recurring emphasis on the advantages of reading the canon deserves some attention: It should be interesting to see whether these alleged advantages extend to feelings of wellbeing or not. Genre fiction will also be looked at in this context. An emphasis here will be on the element of individual choice in fiction reading and to what extent it is relevant for fiction reading to maintain and improve a person’s level of wellbeing.

II. 1.2.1 ‘Best books’ and the canon The recognition that fiction can have a great impact on a reader’s life has led to the assumption that the quality of a reader’s life is directly influenced by the quality of the reading matter (Hatt, 1976). Hatt (1976) mentions how particularly literary critics speak very much in terms of good and bad reading material in this context. Best books have in fact frequently been equated with the canon, which Katz (2001) considers to be best suited to provide a reader with understanding and equip them to solve life’s difficult questions. These books are said to contain universal ideas, which transcend time, race, class and nationality. Katz (2001) also states that canons offer inspiration by revealing the superior thoughts of civilizations. In addition, he claims that canons have served the cause of diversity by absorbing foreign influences, and that they are crucial in the educational process. Some of these above-mentioned characteristics of best books or the canon seem to be a bit vague though and open to interpretation. Moreover, these aspects of best books seem to be all focused on the cognitive development of the reader, which is not wholly identical with the reader’s general wellbeing, to which it might just contribute to a certain extent. Usherwood (2007) argues in a similar vein as Katz (2001) does when he emphasises the importance of high quality books in the public library context: His rationale is

12 that best books improve individuals and communities by increasing their level of knowledge and by providing opportunities for growth, development and greater comprehension of current affairs. Usherwood (2007) makes a distinction between ephemeral and quality material or books of the hour and books of all time. He also, like Katz (2001), links best books with the idea of self-improvement in terms of education. Apart from the classics and the canon, best books for him need to display the following features: They need to be literary, which involves an inventive narrative and characters and a unique voice, and are often prize-winning books. More concretely, these books need to have plausible plots, consistent characterisation, clarity of style and should engage the reader’s interest as well as honestly portray the human experience with which it deals. Whilst some of these qualities such as the one of engaging the reader’s interest seem compelling insofar as the reader needs to be interested and engaged before a book can have a noticeable (positive) impact, others are less convincing: Prize-winning books and the canon are books that have been subjectively chosen so that their status as excellent books cannot be objectively verified. As Train (2003) puts it: “There are no fixed quality standards by which to assess the value of a book” (Train, 2003: 38). Opinions might hugely differ as to what constitutes an excellent book even in literary terms (Radway, 1997). Furthermore, there is another consideration to be made when books, which should improve the quality of a person’s life, are judged on their literary merit only. Highly literary books or books from the canon often lend themselves to a particular way of reading, which is predominantly critical and analytical in nature. However, such reading implies a distancing act between reader and text, the latter being thus objectified (Steiner, 1997). The deeply interactive and creative relationship between text and reader does then not exist in the form outlined above any longer. Instead, the reader takes a critical stance, which tends to almost only engage them on a cognitive level and therefore makes it almost impossible to elicit a response from the reader as a person in a more holistic way, which would also involve their emotions and beliefs.

13 Research has been undertaken into the effects of non-literary books or books that are generally not considered to be best books with regards to their literary value. O’ Rourke (1993) investigated the nature and popularity of genre fiction, which is usually characterised by its use of stylised language, thematic predictability and its heavily plot-led narratives. She is critical of an absolute division between literary fiction and genre fiction, pointing out how literary fiction borrows from genre fiction and that some fiction seems to be as literary as it is popular. There is obviously some fluidity between different kinds of fiction. Moreover, some fiction such as crime fiction is often regarded as exempt from the term genre fiction, which suggests the relatively arbitrary nature of these classifications. Genre fiction, which is often considered banal, can in fact be very compulsive due to a structure, which links it closely to storytelling, “a need in humans common to all cultures and, as far as we know, all periods of historical time” (O’ Rourke, 1993: 4). The reader is often comforted and encouraged in this way whilst being very much engaged in the story. Furthermore, genre fiction frequently expresses the working class experience, which gives many readers a chance to feel recognised. According to O’ Rourke (1993), the patrons who read literary novels are definitely in a minority, which makes Usherwood’s (2007) insistence on patrons’ apparent predilection for classics and literary fiction look questionable – unless readers’ tastes have dramatically changed between 1993 and 2007 towards the preference of literary fiction. Krashen (1993) also defends the reading of teen romances and comic books, which are easily criticised as light reading. However, he does this only insofar as such reading material should eventually lead to more serious reading matter. Popular fiction is thus not fully recognised in its own right but rather seen as a tool to get people into reading in general, and then eventually into more ‘serious’ reading. O’ Rourke (1993) and Train (2003) emphasise that there should be a move away from the book to the reader and their reading experience. Only then can a reader’s feeling of wellbeing be fully taken into account.

14 II. 1.2.2 Individual choice Individual choice of the reading material seems to lie at the heart of a reader’s full engagement with it, as one could say that there is at least much interest in the texts on the part of the reader if the book choice is theirs. Gardiner (2007) describes how the lives of students, who were encouraged to choose their own reading material, were transformed in a very positive way. He attributes this development mostly to the enjoyment and pleasure students got from their chosen material. Towey (2001) associates such (self-selected) reading that is based on an individual’s interest with the concept of flow: Flow is defined as the optimal psychological state that individuals attain when they are so immersed in an activity that nothing else matters. It can even be trancelike in nature (Towey, 2001; Radway, 1997). The distance that a critical reading produces between reader and book is here replaced by something resembling a fusion of text and reader through internalisation (Steiner, 1997). Steiner (1997) depicts how the self can be suspended in such a reading act, which can lead to an alteration of the texture of consciousness. The text becomes part of the self and is thus embedded in some way in the texture of identity. It is apparent that such reading has a much more profound effect on the individual’s sense of self than critical reading can ever have. Fiction has been identified as the predominant type of material that induces flow, with pleasure reading being the most common type of flow reading (Towey, 2001). Enjoyment is therefore at the centre of the flow experience. Towey (2001) also claims that an activity can only be really enjoyable if the involvement in it is effortless. At the same time, flow activities require skill, an investment in mental energy, concentration and a challenge. The challenge of the task and the skill of the participant need to be equal for flow to occur (Towey, 2001; Dias-Mitchell, 2002). The level of materials that most often trigger flow is one that is not too high so that the reader’s attention can easily be held. Against this background, it is not surprising that popular or lighter fiction seems to be more conducive to absorption in the world of the imagination than literary fiction (Radway, 1997).

15 Towey (2001) found that series books were well suited to induce flow, as they offered the types of stories readers were already familiar with, but came up with a new story at the same time.

If self-selection of fiction reading material is so important to induce flow then some attention should be paid to how readers choose their reading material in the first place. Ross (1999, 2001) has found that the most important factor that guides people’s fiction reading choice is the mood they are in at a particular moment in time. In addition, readers respond to alerting sources such as recommendations from friends and acquaintances or to reviews. Furthermore, readers take elements of the book itself such as its subject matter, the way the latter is treated or its characters into account so that the book choice could match the desired reading experience at the time. Ross (1999, 2001) found that clues on the book itself such as its genre, cover, title or publisher are also often important in a reader’s choice of book. A sample page might be read as well. Finally, a reader considers the cost in time, money or cognitive energy that would be involved for them to gain intellectual or physical access to a particular book. These criteria for choosing fiction reading material are necessarily of interest in the public library context.

II. 2. Public libraries and bibliotherapy Public libraries, which are concerned with “the maximisation of public welfare” (Mulgan, 1993) and the promotion of the public good, are in an ideal position to promote patrons’ wellbeing through reading: By offering free access to books, they make it possible for people from diverse social and economic backgrounds to reap the benefits of reading and thus contribute to their quality of life (Turner, 2008). These claims have been substantiated by interviews Hayes and Morris (2005) conducted with library users: It emerged from the interviews that most library users believed that libraries gave the best value and were in fact regarded as essential to their lives and as a “ ‘window on the world’” (Hayes & Morris, 2005:

16 138). Patrons emphasised the enjoyment of reading in the context of public libraries and made it clear that they were ready to take action if there was any threat of libraries being closed down. The value that is attributed to public libraries as facilitators of wellbeing through the provision of reading materials and services has many facets and involves regard for the public library as a place, its promotion of the leisure function and reader development activities such as projects and schemes or reading groups.

II. 2.1 Libraries as restorative places with a leisure function In order for reading material and services provided by the public library to have a positive effect on patrons’ wellbeing, it is crucial that the public library is a welcoming and friendly place. The library needs to come across as the place where a patron wants to spend their time and where they want to come back to (Kenney, 2008). Whilst it could be seen as oppressive if staff hurry towards patrons when they come into the library, they need to be alert to customers who look for help (Emberton & Stanley, 2008). Greenhalgh (1993) describes the public library as a private public place and feminine space. She uses the term feminine space to characterise the almost domestic atmosphere of the library, which she considers one of the least threatening public places.2 Although a public library is strictly speaking a public place as its name denotes, Greenhalgh (1993) discovers an aspect of privacy in it insofar as it is a place “where personal space is not expected to be invaded” (Greenhalgh, 1993: 12). These claims have by and large been confirmed in the past by comments of library users that identified “public libraries as personal places, as institutions of the self in respect of their haven-like appeal” (Black & Crann, 2002: 154). Patrons appreciate the peace and quietness, which some of them find conducive to contemplation, and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere whilst browsing the shelves. The

2 Although Greenhalgh’s identification of domesticity and lack of threat with the feminine sphere is problematic, as it perpetuates a discourse on gender that seems to be rather outdated and circumscribes women’s identities, her terminology is taken up here in order to make a connection between comfort and the public library.

17 library thus becomes a sanctuary, a respite and a refuge, which can offer a sense of home and belonging (Heubert, 2005), where patrons are treated with love, respect, patience and dignity (Guttman, 2007: 25). On the other hand, the social function of libraries is stressed as equally appealing. It is particularly in respect to this social function that Oldenburg’s (1996-97) account of third places becomes relevant. Third places, of which the public library is one according to Harris (2007), are “informal public gathering places” (Oldenburg, 1996-97), which are thus distinguished from our homes (the first places) and our work places (the second places). Harris (2007) emphasises how the public library due to its openness to a diverse range of people and its neutrality is very much a third place and that it should be actively engaged in building social capital, which means that it should deliberately be promoted as a place that establishes connections among individuals, which can easily grow into social networks. Libraries can thus foster a sense of community. Although public libraries as physical places have also sometimes been depicted in ambiguous terms insofar as they are popular on the one hand but also sometimes as lagging behind on the other hand (Black & Crann, 2002), the predominant tone seems to be a positive one. Hayes’ & Morris’ (2005) findings show that public libraries as places help patrons to relieve stress and even help some with the treatment of an illness. They can thus certainly play a restorative role in people’s lives and should explore this potential in more depth.

Fostering community cohesion through social interaction as well as providing quiet space where patrons can find some peace and relaxation are, in fact, all processes that can be related to the leisure role of the public library. This role seems to lie at the heart of attempts at increasing patrons’ levels of wellbeing through reading. Hayes & Morris (2005) equate leisure with “the freedom to choose your activities” (Hayes & Morris, 2005: 76) where enjoyment is an essential component. They refer to Haywood et al. (1995, in: Hayes & Morris, 2005) to identify some components of leisure, which are those of residual time, activities, function or freedom: Whilst leisure as residual time emphasises the right of everyone to spend their free time in

18 ways they choose, leisure as activities refers to particular pastimes that people pursue such as reading a book or borrowing items and can thus be closely linked to core library activities. The functional component of leisure presents leisure activities as performing useful functions for individuals and society, and leisure as freedom stresses the potential of leisure to improve the quality of life and to develop oneself. The latter component suggests a particularly close link to raising levels of wellbeing. The Public Libraries and Museums Act of 1964 legitimised the leisure role of the public library in its recreational meaning, and Framework for the Future (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2003) stressed the central role public libraries seem to play in the context of people’s leisure activities. Also, it is worthwhile not just to acknowledge the recreational role of libraries next to education and information, but also to be aware of the overlap between these roles as pointed out by Moyer (2007) and Usherwood & Toyne (2002). Shearer (2001) emphasises how public libraries add value to leisure time and make a positive difference to patrons’ quality of life. He adds that this is certainly a way to serve the public good, which has been – as Mulgan (1993) points out – a core element of the public library service ethos.

II. 2.2 Reader development and advisory General reader development activities are highly relevant in bibliotherapy. In fact, bibliotherapy can be regarded as a specific expression of reader development, which emphasises and develops some of its facets. Indeed, “research revealed a general feeling that day to day library work including… reader development all contribute to the mental wellbeing of service users” (Brewster, 2009: 13). It is thus useful to have a look at some of the main reader development practices, which have been divided, as Train (2003) points out, into passive and active reader development approaches: The passive approach acknowledges that some patrons want to be left undisturbed and browse the shelves and book tables on their own. Patrons’ attempts at trying to find the right book for themselves are supported by displays of certain kinds of

19 books that are of current interest, for example a display section of ‘just returned’ books (as they seem to be currently popular) or a display section of material that relates to current events such as local or national sports events (Emberton & Stanley, 2008). Librarians could also create a display of their best-loved books, which might include some comments or short reviews and which shows their engagement with the available material. In addition, reading material is normally categorised into different genres, and it can be helpful to display the genre headings clearly on the shelves (Ross, 2001), as many patrons know what kind of literature they are interested in and they can thus locate more easily what they are looking for. Sherman (2008) emphasises the importance of such a reader-centred approach to empower readers.

Book stock selection also feeds into passive reader development insofar as it is crucial to acquire the right kind of books for patrons in order for them to gain benefits from reading. Previous reader consultation should take place so that patrons’ needs can be established and the library can respond to them as far as this is possible within budget constraints. Kinnell and Shepherd (1998) emphasise that such a response to actual readers’ needs should be prioritised over merely reacting to demand and that book selection policies can only be successfully developed if there is an understanding of what readers take away from their reading. In this context, they also point out the popularity of prose fiction, which needs to be taken into account in any stock selection decisions. Based on the aforementioned subjective nature of reading and the different effects books have on readers, Coleman’s (1992) argument to offer a wide range of material is compelling and supported by Ross (2001), who postulates that there should be a variety of reading materials that appeal to every reading taste and mood. Chambers & Stoll (1996) suggest that the librarian’s book selection process could also be guided by reviews, covers, endorsements and blurbs, as they all – as mentioned earlier - influence to some extent a patron’s choice of books. Moreover, they mention that it might be useful to look out for key writers and established authors.

20 James (1992) states that value judgements have to be made, but that librarians should at the same time be careful not to impose their views on what they find socially, racially, sexually and politically acceptable, as this can easily result in harsh censorship. These claims, whilst partly convincing, are a bit too vague and require explanation and modification: Whilst it is certainly desirable to keep censorship in check so that a wide variety of material can be offered and the democratic values of the public library can be maintained, it might be sometimes better not to acquire certain books if their content runs completely counter to promoting the wellbeing of patrons and actually advocates harmful or violent actions such as a propagation and explanation of suicide methods or displays of child pornography.

The active reader development approach focuses to a large extent on activities, promotions and projects that connect patrons and books and tends to emphasise the enjoyment and fun that can be found in reading. During the last few years, a wide variety of projects and schemes has been launched. The North West library network, Time to Read (2001-2004), launched many successful projects to draw people into the library and give them a quality reading experience. Tootill’s (2007) description of a reader development programme in Worcestershire’s public libraries can in many ways be understood as a depiction of core reader development activities in general: New, specific one-off events such as an author event were arranged there; interactive reader-to reader activities or other regular events such as story-telling were developed and maintained.

The active reader development approach also comprises the process of advising readers. This process is referred to in the expression readers’ advisory: Readers’ advisory is a term that was first developed in the United States in the 1920s and can be described as a library service for adult fiction readers that is focused on the patrons and their needs and that involves library staff helping fiction readers to meet their reading needs (Train, 2003). Sturm (2003) sheds more light on the meaning of readers’ advisory when he defines the term as “the act of rendering visible the patron’s internalized, prior reading experience, and a successful

21 transaction becomes, quite literally, a ‘successful seeing’ by both librarian and patron” (Sturm, 2003: 173). The librarian obviously needs relevant information from their patrons to advise them successfully. The readers’ advisory transaction resembles in this way the reference interview and the information-seeking process in general, but is – as Sturm stresses – more complex insofar as it is usually not a specific information need that is addressed but feelings and notions about books. Furthermore, there is a fine line between advising users on books and urging them to read certain texts: Whilst McKee’s (1992) claim that risk-taking and extending the library user’s reading can and should be encouraged by librarians is plausible in view of the greater likelihood to find the right book at the right time if the user is introduced to a greater range of texts, Train’s (2003) argument that it is crucial that the librarian does not take a prescriptive stance is also compelling. Train (2003) proposes an approach that enables the reader to make a more informed choice but at the same time respects their individual preferences. Moyer (2007) and Lack (1985) emphasise the need for the librarian who is engaged in readers’ advisory to be well read and establish good communication with the patron. Downes (2008) adds to this that on the whole patrons very much enjoy being asked about their reading and give the impression that they consider such reader-centred communication with the librarian rewarding. Being reader-centred and well read is even more critical against the background of bibliotherapy where librarians or other staff deliberately make great efforts to increase their patrons’ wellbeing. Sturm (2003) mentions how listening to patrons’ personal stories gives useful clues to the bibliotherapist as to what they might need but might not be able to directly express at that moment in time. It also establishes a trust between the individual library user and the bibliotherapist, which needs to be handled with care.

II. 2.3 Reading groups in public libraries Reading groups can be looked at in the context of reader development as well, but deserve some special attention due to the particular way literary engagement

22 occurs here. Getting together for the purposes of reading together and / or talking about the texts read and discussing them is not at all a new phenomenon, as Manguel (1996) and Hartley (2001) point out. One early example of an informal reading group was that consisting of some Frenchwomen in the fifteenth century who came together to spin and who at the same time entertained each other by reading passages of texts to each other, which were then discussed in a lively fashion (Manguel, 1996). Crucially, their reading group meetings are depicted as causes of enthusiasm and immense enjoyment. It can easily be inferred from this description that these gatherings seemed conducive to wellbeing. These positive, beneficial functions of reading groups have been maintained over time. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, reading groups became increasingly common and widespread in almost every country (Manguel, 1996; Hartley, 2001). The 1990s then saw a further boost in the popularity of reading groups as they can be found today in various locations (Hartley, 2001) – not least in public libraries. In fact, “ ‘thousands of people are turning to libraries… to join a reading group and talk about reading’” (McKearney, 2008: 15). Niebuhr (2007) and Hustedde (2007) certainly agree that book discussions are very much alive at the moment, and Hustedde (2007) observes that “the library book discussion group lives on in many guises” (Hustedde, 2007: 21). Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club, which started to be broadcast in 1996, had a lot to contribute to this proliferation in the United States, while the Radio 4 Bookclub, which was launched in 1998, had a similar impact in the UK (Hartley, 2001). Another highly influential reading group promotion in the UK has been done through the Richard & Judy Book Club (Sagar, 2008). As Ross et al. (2006) point out, reading groups can vary widely in the way they are organised. As in the example of the reading group of the Frenchwomen in the fifteenth century, some reading groups read books aloud, which creates a particular kind of mood as well as a bond between the members, whilst other reading groups predominantly or exclusively engage in a discussion (Hodge et al., 2007). Wood (2004), similarly, mentions structural differences between reading groups. These differences extend to the emphasis that is put on certain genres rather than others

23 such as crime fiction (Ross et al., 2006), Victorian novels or African-American literature (Hartley, 2001). As Hartley (2001) points out, no matter what genre of literature a reader prefers, there is usually a reading group that focuses on it. Despite the different predilections for genres amongst reading groups, Long (1987, in: Hartley, 2001) noticed a tendency of groups not to deal with either end of the literary spectrum, which means that neither poems, plays or complex postmodernist novels nor genre fiction like romances are frequently discussed. Furthermore, all the reading groups are faced with the same issue, namely how to make the reading group a success by making it a valuable and worthwhile experience for the members. Part of the answer to this question seems to lie in the question what a good read constitutes, as the reading experience is at the centre of the reading group meeting. Bessman Taylor (2007) offers some ideas on this issue and is particularly compelling in her argument that good books for reading groups are not necessarily those books that have high literary merit, have won prizes or are shortlisted for a prize. Due to each reader’s different perceptions and emotional responses to texts, it is difficult to identify particular characteristics of a book such as the presence of multidimensional characters or themes that concern life issues or relationships a reader can easily relate to as those that make a book a good read in a group. Bessman Taylor (2007) acknowledges this and uses the term discussability3 as a more general criterion of what “makes a book well-suited for fostering group discussion” (Bessman Taylor, 2007: 26), but adds that it is important to be aware that different groups might want to have different kinds of discussion. Therefore, the term discussibility might only be meaningfully employed if the nature of the desired discussion is apparent. Books that are regarded as complete by group members trigger a different kind of discussion than books that readers disagree about and might be favoured to a greater or lesser extent depending on the group’s

3 The rare perusal of romances in reading groups could thus be explained by their perceived low potential to promote discussion according to Long (1987, in Hartley, 2001). It is interesting to note in this context that genre fiction has a significant appeal to many individual readers though (O’ Rourke, 1993), as pointed out earlier.

24 preferences. Bessman Taylor (2007) remarks that there is a tendency, however, that books tend to work well in reading groups if they are liked by some members and disliked by others, as too much agreement on aspects of a book often leaves less room for discussion. On the whole, discussibility is not static and depends on “the interaction between the work and the reader and the interaction between readers” (Bessman Taylor, 2007: 29). If the book chosen for a reading group gathering then meets the prerequisite of being discussable in one form or another, the positive effects on members’ wellbeing that a reading group session can have are manifold in their nature, as the literature suggests. Sagar (2008) suggests that a good book group opens horizons and provides the opportunity to expand the range of genres readers would normally get involved with. As this process is – as mentioned above – one of the key concepts of reader development, it now becomes clearer how reading groups take an important place in reader development. For Scobey (2004) “the book becomes a platform for an exchange of ideas, allowing the reader to express views and passions” (Scobey, 2004: 9). She identifies reading groups as one of the few outlets where topics might be discussed that would otherwise not be mentioned and where thoughts (on books) become enriched through other people’s inputs. Wood (2004) draws attention to the fact that this sharing of thoughts and viewpoints with other reading group members is an extension of what readers normally do during the reading process anyway where they might share the perspectives and ideas of the author or the characters. Furthermore, Hartley (2001) mentions that the core reading group value is empathy, which can be developed through reading, as has also been commented in the BBC4 programme Why Reading Matters (2009). Hartley (2001) further elucidates how empathy can come to the fore in three different ways, which are those between reader and character, author and character, and between all the readers present. In this context, engagement with characters seems to be crucial to readers and it is thus hardly surprising that realism is often the preferred mode of fiction in reading groups. In addition, readers try to fill textual ‘gaps’ together or

25 attempt to picture alternative scenarios and thus embark on a journey of collective creation (Hartley, 2001; Bessman Taylor, 2007). The social aspect of the reading group should not be neglected though in an analysis of what reading groups contribute to readers’ wellbeing. Provided that there is an atmosphere of trust, openness and tolerance to different viewpoints, a reading group is an occasion to connect with others and build relationships with them (Kendrick, 2001). Kendrick (2001) explains how these bonds between members can become very strong in the course of time and how friendships can thus easily develop. As pointed out above, successful social interaction is an important element of a person’s feeling of wellbeing (Fredrickson, 2000). Whilst libraries try to foster such contact in general, reading groups in particular are at the forefront of providing comfort and contentment to a person through social engagement. Wood’s observation that the reading group fills a particular social niche is convincing. Sagar (2008) even speaks of a social support network. The social and the literary aspects of a reading group come together in the concept of communities of readers, which refers to an inclination to share what other people are reading (Ross et al., 2006). However, there are sometimes concerns associated with reading groups, which could at times detract from the aforementioned positive impact on reading group members’ lives. One such concern some readers have, which Ross et al. (2006) mention, regards the possibility of readers not saying the ‘right’ things by which they mean not coming up with statements that are educated or informed enough. Kendrick (2001) also claims that some books seem to be too personal and it seems preferable to keep the reading experience safe so that a reader does not experience too much disappointment or even hurt if their feelings are not shared or even questioned. “Sharing a book is like sharing your soul and you’re giving someone a chance to stomp on it” (Kendrick, 2001: 88). She thus highlights the vulnerability of readers, which underlines the personal and often emotionally very intense nature of the act of reading. Hartley (2001) moreover adds that conflicts of interest might surface such as when some members rather come for the socialising than for the book discussion or when

26 disagreements, which might be the result of character clashes or poor group dynamics, lead to bad feelings or even splits in the group. However, these reservations have not been given so much prominence in the literature that they seem to overshadow the benefits of reading groups to reading group members’ wellbeing and could be successfully addressed. It thus seems logical to emphasise and foster the positive aspects of reading groups. Lack (1985) nicely sums up the reading group’s potential in the following: Reader’s discussion groups which offer socialization, enjoyment, and boundaries of self-expression are vehicles of preventive mental health and are within the democratic tradition of public service institutions which serve the whole person and the whole community (Lack, 1985: 32). Public libraries are ideal places for reading groups to convene, as Scobey (2004) remarks, as it is an important part of their mission to link the public with books and to thus enrich the life of the community. Libraries thus become “lively community centres for reading” (McKearney, 2008: 15). Lack (1985) concurs when she observes that the public library in this way adds a group dimension to its individual services. In practical terms, public libraries make it easier for groups to be held by requesting books, providing venues and possibly even a member of staff to organise them (Hartley, 2001). In fact, Hartley (2001) stresses that facilitating a reading group can be linked to the librarian’s job description.

27 III. Methodology III. 1. Introduction A qualitative approach was taken to carry out this research for the following reasons: This bibliotherapy research deals with themes and subjective evaluation. Subjective evaluation occurs both on the participants’ side when discussing their perceptions of reading and the library service as well as on the researcher’s side when analysing the participants’ comments. Furthermore, there is an emphasis on description of the fieldwork rather than hypothesis testing or verification (Rudestam & Newton, 1992). In addition, the research sets out to be an investigation of human phenomena such as reading and focuses on the interpretation and meaning people give to events they experience. This can be seen in the way the aims and objectives are phrased insofar as they reflect a desire to find out what people make of their reading material or what the library environment means to their sense of wellbeing. The enquiry carried out aims to gain a psychologically rich, in- depth understanding of the individual by investigating how reading affects their psyche. It is holistic in nature, which means that experimental and quasi- experimental methods cannot do justice to it. As so often associated with qualitative methods, an inductive approach seemed to be most suitable. Although a literature review precedes the fieldwork, the claims and statements presented in the review were not used to form a hypothesis that was being tested at a later stage, but merely gave the fieldwork a certain thematic direction and focus. Only after the analysis and evaluation of the fieldwork data was a comparison made with the findings in the literature. A triangulation approach was taken because the advantage of using more than one method in the study of a social phenomenon is that findings can be checked for validity and general applicability by comparison (Bryman, 2001). As a result, greater confidence in findings is gained. Ethnographers often try to validate their observations by interviewing their participants, by which they also try to clear up any misunderstandings. In a similar vein, this research employed the method of observation, which was then followed by the use of focus groups. In addition,

28 questionnaires were another method used to address the connection between reading and wellbeing.

III. 2. Questionnaires Questionnaires were used to get an initial overview of public library users’ thoughts and feelings of reading. This research utilised self-completion questionnaires, which are quick to administer and can be distributed in large quantities at the same time (Bryman, 2001). Furthermore, survey research as reflected in questionnaires has the advantage to be rigorous in nature and tries to minimise the presence of bias and presents results that are replicable (May, 2001). This can, to a large extent, be explained by the concept of standardisation, which is relevant here: In a questionnaire, participants all read the same questions, which are worded in the same way and appear in the same sequence. In this context, the absence of interviewer effects as mentioned by Bryman (2001) is significant and can be regarded as a benefit. This extends to the absence or at least the diminished presence of social desirability bias when questionnaires are used as a method: Whilst in oral communication in the form of interviews or focus groups a tendency of participants has been observed to be less honest in their statements if their truthful answers were likely to be considered undesirable or even reprehensible, participants tend to be more open and honest in questionnaires where they do not have to observe the researcher’s reaction to their comments.

III. 2.1 Sampling Although a probability sample, which uses selection so that each population unit has a chance of being chosen for participation, is generally assumed to be the method that comes up with the most representative sample as a result of keeping sampling error as low as possible (Bryman, 2001), it was not used here. Probability samples involve a lot of preparation, which seemed impracticable in this research due to time constraints: It would have required the identification of public library users throughout the country and then an attempt to select participants in different parts of the country.

29 Instead, non-probability sampling, which has been widely used in social research, was undertaken in the form of convenience sampling (Bryman, 2001). The reason for this choice was that this sampling method focuses on people that are available and easily accessible. Participants were thus chosen at Sheffield Central Library. The sample size aimed at was between fifty and one hundred questionnaires. This was “a compromise between the constraints of time and cost, the need for precision and a variety of other considerations” (Bryman, 2001: 179). Whilst there was an underlying intention to get a similar number of male and female participants, library users of different age groups and of a variety of ethnic backgrounds, no rigid guideline was followed to ensure that numbers would be equal. The only group that was deliberately excluded from the sample was children and young people below the age of sixteen. Not only is this age group generally more critical with regards to vulnerability, but it has also already received more attention in reading research and reader development. As Bryman (2001) points out, generalisation might be a problem with such a convenience sample so that “the data will not allow definitive findings to be generated” (Bryman, 2001: 183). However, his argument that the ability to generalise is less highly prioritised in qualitative research qualifies the impact of this statement - as does his suggestion to regard the research results as a starting point for future research.

III. 2.2 Designing and administering questionnaires The research question together with the aims and objectives formed the basis for the kind of questions for the questionnaire, which is attached as part of appendix one: The context of reading was taken into account by asking questions about reading habits (questions four to eight and fifteen to eighteen); reading processes were raised as an issue by devising questions enquiring into how people read (questions nine to twelve), and the outcomes of reading fiction were reflected in questions that asked about patrons’ wellbeing when reading in certain ways and in certain situations (questions thirteen and fourteen). The influence of the public

30 library on feelings of wellbeing and the nature of the librarian’s role with regards to bibliotherapy find expression in questions nineteen to twenty-three of the questionnaire. The short section at the beginning of the questionnaire tries to elicit information about gender, age and ethnicity from public library users in order to determine what kinds of participants were targeted and whether a cross-section of users in respect to these categories were approached or not. The latter would be more representative of the entirety of public library users. The number of questions designed was relatively high in order to cover all the above-mentioned aspects. Bearing in mind that patrons would be less likely to participate if the completion of the questionnaire required a substantial amount of their time, it seemed logical to provide options with tick boxes as answers to choose from. Thus, there are hardly any questions that ask participants to write down their answers. The advantage of this questionnaire design for the researcher is that they will probably get more questionnaires in a relatively short space of time, which increases sample size and the ability to generalise from the findings. The limitation of the design is that it provides only a rough idea of patrons’ reading experiences and does not explore any of the issues in more depth, which would have been more likely to be the case if participants had been given the opportunity to write down more answers. Furthermore, the creation of options that could be ticked is very subjective. Other people might have chosen to include other possible options in the questionnaire or got rid of some that were chosen. Questions fourteen and fifteen on the questionnaire are a case in point: The options of genres of fiction given are not exhaustive, but at the same time they try to be as comprehensive as possible. The questionnaire was piloted on several occasions at different stages of its development both in person and by email with participants at the University of Sheffield. Improvements to the initial layout and to the phrasings of questions were made and answer options were reduced. Once the final version of the questionnaire had been completed, one hundred and one questionnaires were chosen as the sample to be handed out to library users.

31 These questionnaires were administered on two afternoons in the foyer of Sheffield Central Library. Most of the patrons that were approached filled in the questionnaire. Before they did so, they were given the information sheet that detailed the research as well as a brief oral summary of it. Most participants filled the questionnaires in immediately and returned them to the researcher so that the latter got ninety-seven questionnaires back in total. Certain deficiencies with question fifteen on the questionnaire were spotted when participants answered it. Instead of asking the participants to choose only one genre of literature that they preferred to read, it would have been more appropriate to let them select several ones and also give them an option such as ‘other’, which allowed for the possibility that none of the suggested options might capture the genre preferences of patrons. Some of the patrons simply ticked several options for that question.

III. 2.3 Data analysis A relatively large number of completed questionnaires can be analysed most efficiently by using a quantitative approach. An Excel Spreadsheet was chosen, which allowed for inputting data that had been gained through the ticking of boxes as well as through the writing of short comments. The arrangement of the data obtained into rows and columns provided a good, structured overview of the data, which was thus easy to read. In the case of ‘spoilt’ questionnaires, usually the wrong or inconsistent answer to a question was not considered. In the case of inconsistency in the whole questionnaire, for example if participants indicated that they did not read fiction but still answered all the questions that were only meant to be answered if they were fiction readers, the questionnaire was not evaluated.

III. 3. Observations The method of observation can be usefully employed, as it offers an insight into a range of dimensions such as social and behavioural interactions (Mason, 2002) that might not be gained to the same extent by the use of other methods. As Mason

32 (2002) points out, this involves an epistemological position, which propounds that observation is crucial to gain knowledge of the real world and that the interaction observed produces data in multidimensional ways. The knowledge generated through observation can be very rich and rounded according to Mason (2002). Robson (2002) adds that the major advantage of observation is that it is a direct method, which is flexible, focuses on situations in ‘real life’ and can deal with complex or indistinct situations. Findings need to be seen as contextual and situated (Mason, 2002). Of the different kinds of observation, non-participant observation was used in this research. Bryman (2001) relates the term to a situation in which the observer observes but does not participate in the processes that take place in a particular social setting. Robson (2002) also describes this observation as unobtrusive, as it is non-reactive in nature. This seems to be a great advantage, as the observer does not directly interfere with the social interaction that occurs between participants so that it could be argued that the behaviour observed is more natural. In this research, it also does not seem to be necessary to be a participant observer because interaction between researcher and participants was reserved for the focus groups that followed the observation. Another advantage of unobtrusive observation is that the observer is likely to collect more relevant data of participant interaction, as the sole focus is on observation. Similarly, the research perspective is easier to maintain in this context (Robson, 2002). Mason’s (2002) terminology of the ‘complete observer’ as well as Bryman’s (2001) use of the term ‘simple observation’ in this context can however be challenged: As Robson (2002) points out, a ‘complete’ observer is a construct rather than reality. The involvement of the researcher always changes the setting and therefore people’s responses to some extent no matter how unobtrusive the observation is. This is at least the case with overt observation, which was chosen as the mode of observation because it is ethically more unproblematic (Robson, 2002) and it seemed also neither feasible nor desirable to undertake a covert observation where the presence of the researcher is hidden from the participants.

33 Another limitation of observational methods in general is that observational biases easily enter an observation and produce distortions (Robson, 2002). The observation made here was unstructured and informal in its nature. This means that no observation schedule for the recording of behaviour was used (Bryman, 2001). As Bryman (2001) elucidates, unstructured observation is frequently undertaken in non-participant observation and aims to “record in as much detail as possible the behaviour of participants with the aim of developing a narrative account of that behaviour” (Bryman, 2001: 257). Closely pre-defined categories for the observation carry the danger that certain elements of behaviour do not get recorded although they might prove relevant to answering the research question.

III. 3.1 Sampling Again, non-probability sampling was used for the same reasons that had been given in the previous section on the sampling of questionnaire participants. The observations were thus made with reading groups at Sheffield Central Library. Due to the very limited time given for this research project and the fact that the different reading groups at Sheffield Libraries on average only meet once a month, only three reading groups were chosen for observation. Although the circumscribed ability to generalise from the findings of such a small sample can once again be seen as a limitation, the fact that more than one reading group was observed nevertheless offered the opportunity to compare findings and thus draw tentative conclusions, which could be further tested in a more large-scale research project.

III. 3.2 Observing Although no observation schedule with pre-defined categories was used for the observations, some notes were made before the observations were carried out. These notes served as pointers to the observation process insofar as they could be seen as an indication of what aspects might be the most relevant ones to focus on, whilst at the same time being open to other aspects of the observed social interaction.

34 One aspect of the observation involved the way members talked about a book and the engagement they showed in the discussion. The idea was to gauge whether there was a certain kind of enthusiasm produced through involvement, which in turn could be related to wellbeing. Furthermore, the interaction between members was observed in order to find out whether it seemed to have a positive and thus a beneficial effect on members’ wellbeing. Also, attention was paid to the way reading group members inhabit their surroundings, which related to the research’s objective to determine the impact of the public library environment as a place on the members. Moreover, the way the facilitators conducted the sessions was looked at to be able to say whether they made the reading experience (in this case, the discussion of reading books) more enjoyable. Finally, the attempt was made to work out the way members felt after the meeting in comparison to their feelings before the meeting to assess the overall impact of the reading group session on them.

III. 3.3 Data analysis The most appropriate method of analysing the data received through observations is through qualitative coding. The observations were based on notes that had been made throughout the reading group session, and the themes and aspects mentioned are much harder to quantify than this is the case with questionnaires. Moreover, observations are such a qualitative method anyway in that they explore meanings and relations in a particular setting so that it seems logical to use qualitative coding. This sort of coding should allow anyone to find the material again very quickly and interpret it further. The predominantly used coding process for the observation data is topic coding, as it is interpretative in nature and thus fits the qualitative approach. In fact, it is sometimes described as the “hack work of the qualitative researcher, labelling text according to its subject” (Richards, 2005: 88). Topics thus become clearly visible. “Coding is a first step to opening up meaning” (Richards, 2005: 94).

35 III. 4. Focus groups Focus groups, which emerged from open-ended group interviews (Krueger & Casey, 2009) and have been frequently used in market research, the health sector and media and cultural studies (Bryman, 2001), are ideal for exploring some of the findings from the questionnaire and the observations in more depth by putting an emphasis on specific themes. In focus groups, a range of ideas or feelings that people have about a shared activity or experience can be looked at. In addition, the focus group setting is ideal to elicit ideas that come from the group (Krueger & Casey, 2009), which means that meaning is constructed collectively when participants probe each others’ views and modify or qualify their own (Bryman, 2001). A multiplicity of different views tends to appear around the topic the researcher is interested in. At the same time, participants bring their own issues to a topic if they consider them to be meaningful or of importance. This can be an advantage insofar as participants might easily come up with aspects of a theme or topic that the researcher has not thought of, but which might prove valuable to the research undertaken. This can only happen, though, if the focus group takes an unstructured approach, which is also open-ended in nature (May, 2001). Participants are actively encouraged to talk to each other. The core characteristics of focus groups are therefore flexibility and the discovery of meaning rather than standardisation. The questions asked should ideally be general in nature to start with (Bryman, 2001; Krueger & Casey, 2009) in order to allow for aspects of themes to emerge. They can then be followed up by more specific questions. Against this background, the facilitator should aim to let the discussion flow freely. If the discussion goes too much off tangent, however, or if crucial issues that are relevant to the research question are not further explored, there is a rationale for the facilitator to intervene. Although it is obvious how focus groups offer distinct advantages with regards to the evaluation of themes over other research methods and can be most powerful when combined with other methods, there are also some limitations to them: The aforementioned social desirability bias can come in so that participants might not

36 voice opinions that might be seen as highly controversial. Moreover, some participants might dominate the discussion, whilst others would not say anything or at least not much. In addition, emotions can be intellectualised (Krueger & Casey, 2009), particularly if participants find it difficult to speak about their emotions. Other limitations, which are specific to data analysis or the sampling process, will be mentioned below.

III. 4.1 Sampling The sampling method and rationale was the same as the one employed for the observations. In fact, those three reading groups that had been observed during their sessions were also singled out for participation in focus groups. Impressions made earlier with those reading group members could thus be confirmed or rejected as well as explored in more depth. The fact that the sample consisted – with the exception of the pilot focus group - of natural groupings, which shared the common experience of being all members of the same reading groups, might have been a benefit insofar as it is assumed that pre- existing groups show a more natural interaction in a focus group (Bryman, 2001). Although, again, the number of times this research method was employed seems to be quite low, in the case of focus groups it might not be necessary to recruit (many) more. According to Krueger and Casey (2009), it even seems to be advisable to plan, at least initially, only about three or four focus groups. The reason they give for this is that it is not unlikely that a point of saturation has been reached by then. Saturation can be defined as “the point where you have heard the range of ideas and aren’t getting new information” (Krueger & Casey, 2009: 21). Bryman (2001) also holds the view that once theoretical saturation is achieved, it is pointless to continue the data collection process by conducting more focus groups. Patterns and themes can usually be determined across groups even if their number is not any higher (Krueger & Casey, 2009). The number of participants in these focus groups ideally coincided with the number of reading group members that were observed. However, allowances had to be made for reading group members who could not or did not want to stay on for the

37 focus group so that the turnout for the focus groups was expected to be (slightly) lower than that for the observation. As Krueger & Casey (2009) state, this does not have to be a disadvantage though as small focus groups, which are also sometimes called mini-focus groups and consist of four to six participants, are frequently experienced to be more comfortable than larger ones. Whilst it is true that the total range of experiences obtained can be limited in such small focus groups, smaller groups are often preferred when the participants have a lot to share about the topic (Bryman, 2001; Krueger & Casey, 2009).

III. 4.2. Conducting focus groups The focus groups sessions were recorded and subsequently transcribed, as this approach seems to “work best” (Bryman, 2001: 476) for conducting them for a variety of reasons: It seems to be too difficult to write everything down that people say and to also make a note of who says what. Furthermore, it is also of interest in qualitative research how people say things; but the nuances of language are likely to get lost if only notes are made of the sessions. Whilst conducting the focus groups, an attempt was made to use open-ended and simple questions and make them sound conversational (Krueger & Casey, 2009). In addition, more general questions were initially asked to start participants off; they were then followed by more specific questions. Both, the outline of the questions that served as a guide to the facilitation of the focus groups and reflections with more details on how each focus group was conducted can be found in appendix three.

III. 4.3 Data analysis The transcription of the focus group recordings proved to be a time-consuming process that harboured difficulties. As Bryman (2001) pointed out, it was sometimes difficult to account for who was talking. The transcripts thus occasionally show uncertainties in identifying the person (P1, P2 etc) who speaks. Furthermore, the transcripts reveal some small gaps in the transcription of the words that were used even though a lot of time was spent on trying to render

38 transcriptions as complete as possible. “Focus group transcripts always seem to have more missing bits because of lack of audibility than transcripts from conventional interviews” (Bryman, 2001: 476).

Qualitative coding was used for the focus group data (i.e. transcript) analysis as well for the same reason that it was used for the observation analysis. As the qualitative data obtained through the focus groups was much greater in scope compared to the data gained through the observations, both topic and analytical coding processes were used. Analytical coding concentrates very much on interpretation and reflection of meaning (Richards, 2005). Meanings are considered in context and categories are subsequently created that express new ideas about the data. Coding categories are thus emerging once patterns and explanations are understood. Glaser & Strauss (1967) explain how theory is thus effectively generated from the data, which is the central tenet of their explanation of grounded theory. This grounded theory approach can also be compared to what Robson (2002) calls an editing approach. He contrasts this with the so-called template approach where codes are either determined on an a priori basis or from an initial read of the data. These codes then function as a template for data analysis. In this research, both approaches were taken and combined: Whilst some key codes were established when questions were formulated prior to the focus groups, other codes emerged when the focus group material was analysed4.

III. 5. Ethical considerations Ethics approval for the fieldwork was obtained from the University of Sheffield, and the ethical guidelines were followed. Informed consent was procured from the participants through providing them with information sheets and, in the case of observations and focus groups, consent forms that had to be signed. The data that

4 The same combination of approaches was used for the observations where some codes were determined early on when notes were made of the aspects the observations should focus on. Other codes emerged, as other relevant aspects emerged through the observations.

39 was collected was stored in a safe place: In the case of the recordings, they were all safely kept on a laptop only the researcher had access to, whilst the questionnaires and observation notes were also safely stored in the researcher’s home. All data was anonymised so that none of the participants could be identified from it. As reading is a very personal matter that could evoke positive and negative images, experiences or memories, there was definitely a strong attempt on the researcher’s part to avoid questions that could make participants feel awkward. Moreover, nobody was pressed to answer any questions they might consider to be too personal.

40 IV. Findings The findings gained from the data, which was obtained through the methods described above, are presented in different ways below. The findings of the questionnaire were made visual by bar charts and pie-charts, as they seem to be a better way of conveying results clearly and quickly than explaining them at length: Robson (2002) points out how such frequency distributions through aforementioned graphical displays are preferred ways of summarising data, as they are more quickly and more easily understood by a variety of audiences. The numbers of patrons holding a particular view is given below or next to the graphics in the form of small tables. Numbers were chosen instead of percentages because the number of respondents to particular questions differed and there was an intention to show these differences in the data. Moreover, a summary of qualitative comments to some of the questions is also shown below the charts. A full version of the qualitative statements that were made can be found in appendix one.

The findings of both the observations and the focus groups are laid out in tables, which show the thematic codes on the left side and further headings as well as statements that serve as evidence on the right side. Particularly in the case of focus groups, the statements appertaining to each heading were sometimes too high in number to display them all. Instead, often only one statement has been chosen, whilst a full version of relevant quotations is attached as part of appendix three. The findings obtained from the pilot focus group have not been included in this main part, but are part of appendix three as well. The typed up notes of the observations are in appendix two. Furthermore, the restrictions in terms of time and word count also limited the scope of the findings: It was therefore not possible to explore the data further in order to establish co-relations between the emerging themes.

41 IV.1. Questionnaires5

Gender of respondents

Male 41

Female 49

Ages of participants

25

20

15

Series1 10

5

0 16-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Ages of participants

16-19 8

20-29 20

30-39 11

40-49 16

50-59 14

60+ 23

5 The headings are abbreviated versions of the questions as asked on the questionnaires.

42 Ethnicity of participants

White

Mixed

Black or Black British Asian or Asian British Other ethnic group

Ethnicity of participants

White 70

Mixed 1

Black or Black British 5

Asian or Asian British 7

Other ethnic group 5 Fiction reading

Readers of fiction

Non-readers of fiction Fiction reading

Readers of fiction 80

Non-readers of fiction 10

43 Reasons for not reading fiction Lack of interest Preference for factual books "I'm interested in factual written material. There is so much to learn!" "I don't like to read fiction because it is somebody making a story up. Where as I prefer to read fact because this has happened." Biography, Autobiography, Science and History books preferred Fiction books seen as boring and predictable

Amount of fiction reading per week

60 Amount of fiction reading 50 per week (participants in numbers) 40 (Part of) a book 56 30 Series1 2 books 15 20 3 books 3 10 4 books 2 0 5 books 0 (Part of) 2 books 3 books 4 books 5 books > 5 a book books > 5 books 3

44 Importance of fiction reading in everyday life

Important Not important Importance of fiction Not sure reading in everyday life

Important 33

Not important 28

Not sure 14

Reasons for reading fiction

Reasons for reading fiction

relax 53 relax stress relief 23 stress relief sleep 18 sleep pure pleasure pure pleasure 55

escape reality escape reality 25 find comfort find comfort 14 learn socialise learn 48 I think I should socialise 10 other I think I should 8

other 13

45 Other' reasons for fiction reading Alternative to watching TV Particular interest in a certain topic that fiction takes up Excitement / Stimulation To improve reading / literacy / vocabulary To stimulate the imagination To appreciate the creativity of other people "To pass the time while travelling" Intellectual development "To learn about different writing style and techniques"

Complete absorption in fiction

Yes No Complete absorption in Sometimes fiction Yes 39

No 4

Sometimes 37

Improved reading experience through absorption

Improved reading experience through Yes absorption

No Yes 58 Sometimes No 0 Not sure Sometimes 13

Not sure 5

46 Opinion: Different people having different experiences when they read the same book

Not sure

Opinion: Different people No Series1 having different experiences when they read the same book

Yes Yes 69

No 1 0 50 100 Not sure 6

Way of reading

Quickly without thinking too much about it. Way of reading

Slowly and think Quickly without about what I read thinking too much and interpret it. about it. 6 Quickly and think about what I read Slowly and think about at the same time. what I read and interpret it. 41

Quickly and think… 35

47 Effect on wellbeing

Positive effect

Negative effect

No effect

Both positive and negative depending on the book

Effect on wellbeing

Positive effect 47

Negative effect 0

No effect 5

both pos. & neg. effect 27

Genres of fiction that affect wellbeing positively

Graphic novels Literature from different … Adventure SciFi Classics Modern fiction Chick lit / romance Series1 Crime Historical fiction Short stories Plays Poetry Genres of fiction that affect …

0 10 20 30 40 50

48 Genres of fiction that affect wellbeing positively

Poetry 29

Plays 18

Short stories 30

Historical fiction 38

Crime 28

Chick lit / romance 22

Modern fiction 45

Classics 40

SciFi 20

Adventure 35

Literature from different countries 33

Graphic novels 13

Genres of fiction that affect wellbeing negatively

Graphic novels Literature from different … Adventure SciFi Classics Modern fiction Chick lit / romance Crime Series1 Historical fiction Short stories Plays Poetry Genres of fiction that affect …

0 5 10 15

49 Genres of fiction that affect wellbeing negatively

Poetry 10

Plays 8

Short stories 3

Historical fiction 3

Crime 14

Chick lit / romance 8

Modern fiction 7

Classics 3

SciFi 13

Adventure 8

Literature from different countries 9

Graphic novels 13

Genres of fiction that affect wellbeing both positively and negatively

Graphic novels Literature from different … Adventure SciFi Classics Modern fiction Chick lit / romance Crime Series1 Historical fiction Short stories Plays Poetry Genres of fiction that affect …

0 2 4 6 8

50

Genres of fiction that affect wellbeing both positively and negatively

Poetry 6

Plays 2

Short stories 3

Historical fiction 4

Crime 2

Chick lit / romance 0

Modern fiction 7

Classics 5

SciFi 0

Adventure 0

Literature from different countries 4

Graphic novels 2

Reading Preference

Graphic novels Lit from different … Adventure SciFi Classics Modern fiction Chick Lit / Romance Series1 Crime Historical Fiction Short stories Plays Poetry

0 5 10 15

51 Reading preference

Poetry 3

Plays 0

Short stories 1

Historical Fiction 3

Crime 13

Chick Lit / Romance 2

Modern fiction 8

Classics 4

SciFi 6

Adventure 6

Lit from different countries 3

Graphic novels 0

Talking to others about books

Yes Sometimes Talking to others about No books Yes 27

Sometimes 47

No 6

52

Reading group members

Yes No

Reading group members

Yes 7

No 71

Reading material based on own choice

Reading material based on very important own choice

fairly important very important 35 not important fairly important 29

not important 15

53

Frequency of library visits

Once a week at least Once a month at least Once a year at Frequency of library visits least Once a week at least 44

Once a month at least 29

Once a year at least 14

Library as a feel good factor

Yes No Not sure Library as a feel good factor

Yes 68

No 5

Not sure 16

54 Consultation of librarian about reading suggestions

Yes Sometimes No

Consultation of librarian about reading suggestions

Yes 6

Sometimes 7

No 76

Positive impact of librarian’s recommendations

Yes Positive impact of No librarian's Not sure recommendations Yes 11

No 0

Not sure 2

55

Advice and guidance as librarian’s role

Yes

No Advice & guidance as Not sure librarian's role

Yes 44

No 20

Not sure 23

Views in favour: Provision of guidance and advice acknowledged as part of the librarian's role Librarian as a well-read, knowledgeable person Product knowledge Librarian should have a passion for books and stories Librarian good at mixing with the public Could be helpful More experienced than the public with books and could thus advise, for example, on what books are for a certain age group. Expected to give relevant information Librarian should be able to find appropriate information Guidance (only) when requested Librarians are trained to do this. It can help the reader. Librarians are more efficient and quicker at searching resources and reaching solutions. Some people require advice, for example on recent publications. Should be knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects. Should be able to make recommendations. Help people who are unsure of titles / content. Guide people to relevant sources

56

Views against it: Own choices preferred. Advice not needed. Intrusion into one's personal tastes and preferences. Librarians cannot (easily) know what would be good material for a person, as they do not know their reading taste and preferences. No advice needed, as patron already knows what they want when coming to the library. No need for guidance and advice as an adult person. Librarians hardly ever read the books. Librarians cannot be expected to know all the books.

Uncertainty: Never thought about the role of librarian. Uncertainty of what the role of librarian implies.

57 IV. 2. Observations

Categories Findings Facilitation of Reading Groups (RGs) • Very little intervention; mainly starts conversation off (RG1) • Some intervention; facilitator starts conversation off, but also regularly poses open-ended questions suggesting new aspects for discussion (RG2) • A lot of active intervention: facilitator initially lets the discussion develop on its own accord; when it falters, she asks first more general and then more specific questions; facilitator effectively stimulates the discussion (RG3)  active intervention - as in RG3 - seems to work best when members run out of things to say and also keeps the discussion going and engages members’ interest Structure • No clearly identifiable structure (RG1, RG2, RG3)  members seemed to be happy not to have one, as nobody tried to impose one General Process & Content Discussion of • Scenes, which are closely related to members’ own lives – realism is tested (RG1) • Characters / characters’ behaviour (RG1, RG2) • Pace of the book (RG2, RG3) • Genre of the book (RG2) • Title (RG3) • Blurb (RG1) • Comparison with film(s) (RG1, RG3) • Whether members liked the book (RG2, RG3) • Evaluation of writer (RG3)

58 Categories Findings General Process & Content • Discussion of • Perspective from which the story was narrated (RG3) • Images / pictures evoked (RG3) • Whether the novel was memorable (RG3) • Developmental view of reading (RG2) Members • Are able to differentiate between positive and negative aspects of the novel (RG3) • Have, at times, very different views (RG3)  mostly, members seem to be interested in discussing their response to the book in general (i.e. whether they liked it), in the characters and their behaviour, in relating scenes and characters to their own lives, in the pace of the book and in comparisons with films and other books Engagement (with books…) • Obvious engagement with the reading material (RG1, RG2, RG3) • Passionate about discussing their reading (RG1) • Emotional responses to what has been read (RG1) • Lack of real passion for the reading material, which was the obvious result of not having liked the books very much (RG2, RG3)  great engagement with reading material throughout and readiness to discuss reading even when book was not liked that much Participation and interaction Participation • Not all members participate to the same extent, but nobody dominates the discussion in an aggressive or intimidating way

59 Categories Findings Participation and interaction Participation • Lack of participation in two cases: a member has not read the book (RG1) and one member just seems to be more quiet in general (RG2) Interaction • Members listen and relate to each others’ comments – genuine interest in the others’ opinions (RG1, RG2, RG3) • Relaxed atmosphere – members seem at ease with each other (RG1, RG2, RG3) • Lively interaction (RG1, RG2, RG3) • Laugh together (RG1, RG3)  high degree of social interaction & participation in all reading groups; interest in each other and in each others’ views very much present Impact of surroundings • Members inhabit the space, a spacious and bright room, very well (RG1, RG2, RG3) • Seem comfortable in their chairs – lean back and assume relaxed postures (RG1, RG2, RG3)  a good choice of space for the reading groups Members’ feelings after the session • Cheerful and happy (RG1, RG2, RG3) General observations • Three members of the reading group come even though they have not read the book  another indication of the importance of the social aspect of the RGs • Enjoyment of the little extras they get, e.g. tea and biscuits

60 IV. 3. Focus groups

Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Experience (RE): • Misery without reading ( essential) Importance of reading ‘You do feel a gap in your life when you haven’t got a book on the go’. (FG1, P2, p.12) ‘My absolute fear is not being able to read for some reason’. (FG2, P3, p.17) ‘How can you have lived – how can you say you have lived if you’ve never read a book?!’ (FG3, P4, p.18) • Compared to Food ‘It’s like having a good dinner, feeling satisfied’. (FG1, P2, p.13) • Compared to Love ‘It’s a bit like falling in love’. (FG1, P2, p.15) Positive aspects • Enjoyment & pleasure (dominant emotional response) ‘I mean reading is fun, primarily reading fiction.’ (FG2, P3, p.2) ‘It’s one of life’s pleasures – sitting reading.’ (FG3, P1, p.5) • Empathy through identification / recognition (e.g. with a character, situation etc.) ‘Because you identify with the characters in fiction. There’s also a bit in the character that’s sort of you. Any book you read, you find a character, which you can identify with.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) ‘… it allows you to see things from someone else’s perspective. When it is written well, you can empathise with a character.’ (FG2, P4, p.1)

61 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Experience • Catharsis (RE): ‘And then you sort of feel better, because you’ve read about them overcoming the Positive aspects problems. So you think, ‘well, perhaps, I can’.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) • Involvement ‘You want that absorption, don’t you?’ (FG1, P1, p.13) ‘I’ve actually been so involved in books that when I finished them I feel almost tearful because it’s over. And I haven’t wanted it to end.’ (FG3, P1, p.14) ‘You become oblivious to what’s going on around you really.’ (FG3, P1, p.15) • Stress relief & relaxation ‘I find it’s to do with stress relief. When I’m really stressed, I tend to read.’ (FG1, P7, p.11) • Distraction from problems / worries / depression ‘… and certainly for myself when I get depressed, I often read – read to get away from my situation and think about other things.’ (FG2, P1, p.2) ‘And you’re not worrying about other things and you’re perhaps not worrying about things that you shouldn’t be worrying about.’ (FG3, P1, p.18) • Escapism ‘It’s escapism, isn’t it?’ (FG2, P3, p.1) ‘I think there is nothing wrong with a good chunk of escapism.’ (FG3, P1, p.18)

62 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Experience (RE): • Prevents overeating & alleviates boredom Positive aspects ‘And the other thing everybody should never forget is how wonderful reading is for alleviating boredom, stuffing your face in a biscuit tin all the time.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) ‘If you’re involved in a book, you’re not bored.’ (FG3, P1, p.18) • Personal space ‘… the actual kind of reading experience, I think, I value very much on my own at home. Sort of to escape from a busy life really.’ (FG2, P5, p.10) • Intellectual stimulation / challenge ‘Oh, it makes me think, definitely.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) ‘… reading is a little bit more challenging.’ (FG2, P4, p.2) ‘I always read… it for the challenge.’ (FG3, P2, p.15) • Learning / expanding horizons / changes in attitude ‘…going to another time, another place. Something that you have not experienced.’ (FG2, P2, p.1) ‘… it leads me into lives of people that are quite different from mine.’ (FG3, P2, p.20) • Life transforming ‘And there are always books that – throughout your life, somehow they are up there and they stand out.’ (FG1, P1, p.15) ‘… or it – it’s just – transformed your life.’ (FG3, P2, p.15)

63 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Experience (RE): • Active imagination Positive aspects ‘It is the book that you’re interacting with your imagination.’ (FG1, P4, p.14) ‘Imagine other words. They will be different for different people.’ (FG2, P4, p.3) • Participatory / creative / interactive experience ‘It’s what you bring to it as well. It’s not just what the author brings to you.’ (FG1, P4, p.14) ‘Yeah, it’s very interactive. I think you have to – you have to engage with it.’ (FG2, P4, p.3) Times / occasions • All the time / any time one could get except when doing academic work ‘I had to do so much reading at university that I could – I stopped reading fiction.’ (FG1, P5, p.10) ‘Anywhere where I’ve got time.’ (FG3, P4, p.13) • In bed / before going to sleep ‘I read every night before bed, but that was always the habit I’ve always had.’ (FG1, P5, p.9) ‘… I read every night in bed, but very often feel all tired soon.’ (FG1, P4, p.11) ‘Every single night of my life, I read something before I go to sleep.’ (FG2, P1, p.4)

64 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Experience (RE): • On holidays Times / occasions ‘Or the pleasure on holiday… And you pick up a book…that is the absolute, ultimate luxury.’ (FG1, P1, p.12) ‘The other thing I found is when I go away on holiday I do read a lot of books.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) • When travelling / commuting ‘I always carry a book with me wherever I go. I always carry a book.’ (FG2, P3, p.18) ‘I was reading a book on the bus.’ (FG3, P4, p.14) Personal aspect • Different responses from different people ‘Sometimes you feel as if you’ve read a different book from some of the others.’ (FG1, P4, p.2) ‘But I think that sometimes there is a style that doesn’t appeal… and I’ve seriously wondered if people have read the same book as me.’ (FG3, P3, p.16) • Mood-dependent ‘And it can be dependent on your mood, you know.’ (FG1, P1, p.9) ‘I think one of the difficulties about reading is that it depends on your mood.’ (FG2, P3, p.4)

65 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Experience • Different responses at different times in one’s life (RE): ‘But sometimes it’s to do as well with when you read a book.’ (FG1, P3, p.16) Personal aspect ‘And also I think your life experience gives you a completely different perspective of it. If you read something as a child, it’s probably – you’re reading it in a much more innocent way.’ (FG1, P1, p.17) Special nature of fiction • Narrative aspect / story quality reading ‘I think one or two of the novels that we’ve had, have been really well-crafted… you sometimes appreciate that it’s well-done.’ (FG3, P3, p.16) ‘I think it’s part of human nature, isn’t it? I mean children love having stories read to them…they want story.’ (FG3, P1, p.20) • Characters ‘Because you identify with the characters in fiction.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) ‘But you can just get involved in the characters.’ (FG2, P3, p.2) • Flow ‘You want that absorption, don’t you?’ (FG1, P1, p.13) ‘I’ve actually been so involved in books that when I finished them I feel almost tearful because it’s over.’ (FG3, P1, p.14) • Constructive / creative element ‘It’s the book that you’re interacting with your imagination. It’s what you bring to it as well.’ (FG1, P4, p.14) ‘But with the book I can interpret it entirely my own way.’ (FG2, P5, p.4)

66 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Social aspect: meet people / share an interest (without pressure) ‘Oh, we always have great fun at the book club. That is – it’s got to be fun… as well as reading the book, I come for the people and to have a bloody good laugh.’ (FG1, P2, p.1) ‘I’d never not come because I haven’t read it.’ (FG1, P4, p.9) • Opportunity to talk about reading ‘We had a marvellous discussion about it.’ (FG1, P2, p.1) ‘But with a book group, you have got somewhere to come and discuss it, and all that book becomes alive again.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) • More persistent and thoughtful reading ‘… it makes you – challenges you a bit more in the sense that if you don’t like it you got to think about it why you don’t like it.’ (FG2, P3, p.5-6) ‘… I always plod (?) on right to the end… when you are going to discuss it with other people you tend to push yourself and finish it.’ (FG3, P3, p.2) • Learning from other members’ contributions ‘And there might be specialist subjects…other people might rejuvenate other contexts to it. And you understand it more.’ (FG1, P7, p.5)

67 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Discussion extends to a theme (raised in book  general level) ‘I mean there have been a lot of occasions where we’ve started off talking about the book and the discussion has veered off – into other areas. But it’s all come from the book.’ (FG2, P2, p.10-11) • Different reading material  enlarges reading habits ‘It definitely encourages you to read what you normally don’t read.’ (FG1, P6, p.2) ‘I’ve read far more – a different range of things since I started coming to book group, which is interesting.’ (FG2, P3, p.5) ‘You’re going out of your comfort zone and you’re actually trying to do something that is a bit different.’ (FG3, P1, p.3) • Positive feelings about the reading group before and after a meeting ‘Yeah, I always go away feeling quite happy.’ (FG2, P4, p.17) ‘Yeah. It’s special. We look forward to it.’ (FG2, P3, p.17) ‘It’s something that I wouldn’t miss unless I had to…make every effort to get here if I could. You know. I value it.’ (FG2, P2, p.17)

68 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Negative aspects • Particular reading preference not shared by others / too personal to share ‘… if you’re in a group where somebody recommends the book and the book is chosen and then a certain number of the group don’t like it, then they will blame the person who chose it.’ (FG1, P1, p.8) ‘Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. And I absolutely loved that and I wouldn’t entertain sitting down hearing anybody else’s view about it. I do not want to know what anybody else thinks about it.’ (FG3, P3, p.6) • ‘Negative’ influence on reading / finishing a particular book ‘…I often get stuck halfway. And if then the rest of the group says ‘oh, you know, I got stuck toward the end’ and the review is a bit mixed, it will then make me think, ‘yeah, well, I’m not going to carry on.’ So I suppose that could be a bit of a negative thing.’ (FG1, P1, p.6) • Compromise on other books ‘… I’ve got so many books that I want to read and sometimes, I – you – you know, you sort of compromise on other books because you think, ‘well, I need to read this one’.’ (FG1, P6, p.6) • Time pressure ‘And – and having time as well.’ (FG1, P6, p.6) ‘… I just didn’t have the time.’ (FG3, P4, p.4) ‘I think time is sometimes a negative because you’ve got to read it. … You [inaudible] yourself to read so many pages a day and then do it that way.’ (FG3, P3, p.4)

69 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): • Group dynamics Negative aspects ‘As P2 said, we’re going to another reading group … and P2 and I could name three people who we know will speak for twenty minutes each and the rest of us know that – that you’re about to say something and you can’t.’ (FG3, P3, p.9) • Disparate approaches to reading, e.g. very critical / academic approach disliked ‘And just occasionally you might get a number of people who were quite intellectual in their approach. That can be a bit frustrating if they are talking about the way that the – the words are put together. You know, the style and so on. The structure… Some of them have done an advanced degree course’ (FG3, P2, p.4-5) • Dislike of book6 ‘… ‘I’m just not going to waste my time, because I have better things to do.’’ (FG3, P4, p.2) ‘Some- Sometimes if I am struggling – like I was struggling with that last one – and I’m thinking, ‘I will… I got to really – I will somehow get to the end of this.’’ (FG3, P4, p.4) • Lack of men ‘The only thing I could say is that it’s a pity we don’t have any men. We did have one gentleman. But it seems to be the thing, reading groups are all – are nearly all women.’ (FG3, P1, p.21) Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

6 However, this seemed to be a minority view. Mostly people enjoyed coming to the reading group and taking part in a discussion even if they hadn’t liked the book.

70

Reading Groups (RGs): A good read’ for RGs • Difficult to say / generalise ‘I think it’s so – I think reading is so personal, I think it’s difficult to say really.’ (FG2, P3, p.12) • Discussability (e.g. a text that triggers a variety of views) ‘The most interesting discussions come where people haven’t enjoyed the book… But if it’s something that half of the group didn’t like and half of the group did, then you get a really interesting discussion.’ (FG2, P2, p.12) ‘We might not have liked them as books, but we probably had more to say about them than we had with some of the more straightforward ones.’ (FG3, P3, p.11) Library Environment (LE): • If enough space is available / nice space Library as setting for RGs ‘Only if it’s upstairs and if it’s private like this. It wouldn’t work in the main library. We just couldn’t do it. You distract too many people. As long as you’ve got a space like this. I love this table. I love how everybody sat around so I can see everybody and relate to everybody when I’m talking. I think this really works because we’ve got facilities upstairs.’ (FG1, P2, p.17) ‘And it’s a nice space, isn’t it, really for us to have?’ (FG3, P2, p.22) • Inclusive ‘… there’s nothing to stop anybody from coming to this group.’ (FG1, P1, p.18)

Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

71 Library Environment (LE): • Facilitation Library as setting for RGs ‘The library facilitates it very well.’ (FG1, P4, p.18) • Meeting new people ‘I have a friend who’s in another reading group and they all go to each others’ houses. So they are all friends or friends of friends in a similar group. The nice thing about this is we meet people who we wouldn’t normally meet.’ (FG1, P4, p.19) • Reading material handed out for free ‘And as well, we don’t pay for any of the books.’ (FG1, P5, p.17) ‘… some books we had that I wouldn’t have paid for it (?).’ (FG1, P4, p.18) ‘… this is good because we are given the book.’ (FG3, P2, p.21) • Immediate access to books ‘Plus, I think, if suddenly – suddenly somebody says, ‘so and so is a good writer’ and you’re in the library, you will go and look. And it – it’s there, you know.’ (FG1, P1, p.19) ‘… I can get books out before I come to it and – and take books back when I arrive. It’s – it’s very handy.’ (FG3, P3, p.21) • Logistics (Central Library generally easy to get to) ‘Well, there is a bus out (?).’ ‘I can use my bus pass to get into town so I don’t worry about parking or anything else.’ (FG3, P1 & P3, p.21) • Neutral space / non-competitive ‘There’s nothing competitive about it. It’s a level playing field basically’ (FG1, P1, p.19)

Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

72 Library Environment (LE): • Refreshments Library as setting for RGs ‘… and we also get refreshments.’ (FG3, P2, p.21) • Invitations to other reading events ‘And they do other events attached to where we get invited to.’ ‘And the ‘Off the Shelf’ thing.’ ‘The Orange Prize for Fiction.’ ‘We’ve had authors come in.’ ‘We’ve had authors come in to visit, which was interesting. You have the author right there when you’re talking about their books.’ (FG1, P5 & P1, p.18-19) Librarian’s role in RD • Personal advice on reading not necessarily wanted ‘No, you got the chance to browse, you got the chance to go (?) through. I mean it would be nice if – if, you knew, you know [inaudible] your librarian and they say ‘oh, this is coming and you might quite like it.’ That would be very nice.’ (FG2, P1, p.8) ‘Not unless somebody really wants to. If somebody for example says ‘I haven’t read for years’ and they want them to suggest. I think I wrote on my questionnaire ‘I’m an adult, I’m not a child any more.’ (FG3, P1, p.22) ‘I think it’s quite nice if they actually say to us very very occasionally – someone said ‘oh, yes, I enjoyed so and so.’ It makes you – it is just positive. (FG3, P2, p.22) Library & stock / reading • More reading (free books) material ‘I read far more because I’m in the library. I never wanted to put in my house all the books that I read or pay for them all. So I know the library is really an important part of my life because… I read hundreds of more books, because they are all there.’ (FG2, P1, p.5) Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence

73 Library Environment • Shared ownership valued7 (LE): ‘I like the idea of – of me reading it and someone else reading it. I like the idea of Library & stock / reading shared ownership… They’re held in common with the whole of the community(?)… But I material think I like the idea that there’s a common – commonly held pool. And that – ehm – yeah, I like the idea that someone else will read this book – someone else will read this book and it’s – it’s something we’ll share.’ (FG2, P1, p.5) • Great range of stock generally wanted8 ‘I think it’s a problem with – with small libraries actually…. When I come here, there are loads and loads and loads of books. I go to my local library, there is hardly anything there.’ (FG2, P3, p.9) Library as place • Spend quality time there ‘You can sit, you can take the book and you can sit there.’ (FG2, P4, p.6) Other Issues (OI): Choice of reading material • Through recommendations (i.e. personal & notes / messages / alerts) ‘Because quite frequently now we’ll have ‘If you liked this book, you might like to read so and so and so and so.’ And I think, ‘well, yes, I might give that a try and see if I do like it.’ (FG3, P3, p.3)

Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Other Issues (OI):

7 However, sometimes people preferred to own their own copy of a book. 8 At the same time, the difficulty of choosing reading material amongst a great range of stock was mentioned.

74 Choice of reading material • Preferences for Classics, modern fiction & fiction series ‘I have a leaning towards the Classics.’ (FG3, P2, p.12) ‘I like more modern, up-to-date things because it’s – it’s a way of also keeping up with current trends in – in popular literature.’ (FG3, P4, p.12) ‘And that’s why it’s sometimes quite nice to read books where the same characters appear in a series because in the development you sort of see what’s happened to them next.’ (FG3, P1, p.15) • Stories set in a place one goes to visit ‘If we’re going somewhere quite different I often try and find a book – eh – about the country we’re going to… It – it enhances your experience and you probably understand the book a little bit more.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) Being read to • Not liked as a substitute for reading on one’s own (e.g. audio books) ‘… And she had the talking books and things, but she thought that they were good, but it’s not the same story hearing it in bed last night and – the voices – she said this is the best – it’s a good second best. But it’s not – it’s not the same.’ (FG2, P5, p.17-18) • Seen as different in kind to reading oneself (pace, voice etc. are given) ‘… different interpretation.’ (FG2, P3?, p.17) ‘The voices.’ (FG2, P5, p.17) ‘The pace and everything.’ (FG2, P3, p.18) ‘Because you can’t make the characters.’(FG2, P5, p.18)

Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Other Issues (OI):

75 Facilitation of group • Active facilitation appreciated (i.e. some structure, probes, preparation by facilitator) ‘And she is the youngest and she’s actually the most structured because she has always read the book. She’s always got notes. And I find it actually interesting because she is so much younger than the rest of us. She’s got a dif- a very different perspective. And a different contribution to make. I do think that the interaction between the group and the group leader actually does make a difference.’ (FG3, P3, p.9) ‘I – I think it’s good that L has this structure. She – she always steps in if it’s quiet.’ ‘Yes. … She looked up – she makes requests on the Internet, but.’ ‘We’ve had others where we perhaps talked for ten, fifteen minutes and then we talked about anything.’ (FG3, P2 & P3, p.10) Nature of the group • Like-minded approach important ‘But I think we’ve settled in quite well in this group, haven’t we? We’re fairly likeminded in our approach to reading so.’ (FG3, P2, p.5) • Respect for each others’ opinions ‘And by and large people have got sort of like – a tennis approach to allow one person to say something and then somebody else will say and then – it’s kind of like a courtesy.’ (FG3, P3, p.9) ‘I th – I think in this group we actually respect each other’s opinions.’ (FG3, P4?, p.9) • Should not be too big ‘I wouldn’t have thought that would work, that size… eight or nine of us. And for everybody to say something about.’ (FG3, P4, p.10)

76 V. Discussion In the following, the findings of the literature review, the questionnaires, observations and focus groups are brought together so that commonalities can be established as well as differences discussed. The discussion is again structured thematically and resembles, in its form, the thematic structure of the literature review and, to a lesser extent, the structure of the focus group findings.

V. 1. Reading in general V. 1.1 Different modes of reading The focus group findings confirm Manguel’s (1996) claims, that silent reading on one’s own is the preferred mode of reading: ‘… the actual kind of reading experience, I think, I value very much on my own at home. Sort of to escape from a busy life really.’ (FG2, P5, p.10) Audio books as a means of being read to are thus not considered to be as powerful in their effect: Both the voice and the pace are already given, which restrict the way the reader engages with the material and the extent to which they can interact with it imaginatively. At the same time, the general appreciation of author events that focus group participants claim to have suggests that being read to in certain contexts is actively enjoyed.

V. 1.2 The nature of fiction reading The frequent criticism of fiction reading being an antidote to real life as pointed out by Gerrig (1993) has sometimes been made in a less explicit way on the questionnaires: Giving the lack of ‘realism’ as a reason for not reading fiction, participants seem to suggest that fiction books are thus of less value and are also, at times, seen as more predictable or even boring and similar to one another. Non- fiction on the other hand is read for the learning experience. However, only a small group of participants held such views.

77 In the focus groups, the special nature of fiction reading was emphasised instead by pointing out what made it an enjoyable experience: Appleyard’s (1990) and Ross’ (1999) mention of narrative and Rosenblatt’s (1970) and Spufford’s (2002) reference to characters were echoed in this context: ‘The narrative aspect. Which obviously you – well, you get in the majority of fiction.’ (PFG, P3, p.7) ‘But you can just get involved in the characters.’ (FG2, P3, p.2) During the observations, it also became clear that it were predominantly characters, scenes (part of the narrative) and the pace of the book that were discussed.

The developmental view of reading as held by Spufford (2002) has also been widespread amongst focus group members insofar as they have experienced the same books differently during different stages of their lives. The later reading experience can either be more positive or more negative than the earlier one. However, the existence of precisely defined developmental stages as explained by Bettelheim (1976) and Appleyard (1990) have not been confirmed.

All the data gathered has largely revealed a belief in the individual nature of reading. Focus group participants also confirmed that the personal background is relevant to the response to reading material, which means that the context of reading is of importance to the reading experience: ‘If something is going on in your life and you really think ‘I really can’t face – face it’. Something with murder or rape in it. You know. Or whatever it is.’ (FG1, P1, p.9) Different reading stances, which Rosenblatt pointed out (Allen, 1991), have also been identified through the questionnaire and focus group data: The questionnaire data suggests that the most widespread way of reading is a slow one in which the participants think about what they read. However, almost as many respondents claimed that they read quickly and think about and interpret what they read at the same time. A minority of respondents reads quickly without thinking too much about what they read.

78 Furthermore, almost all research participants revealed that they get at least sometimes absorbed in their reading, and a clear majority of participants had an improved reading experience through this absorption. These findings are compatible with Towey’s (2001) and Steiner’s (1997) pronouncements on flow experiences. Focus group participants, moreover, all thought of the act of reading as an (highly) interactive process. Rosenblatt’s (1970) notion of the active reader and Todorov’s (1980) comparison of reading to a process of construction is echoed in participants’ statements like ‘I think reading is more interactive than watching TV… you’re projecting your own ideas onto it a bit… it’s more engaging’ (FG2, P4, p.2), and ‘It’s the book that you’re interacting with your imagination. It’s what you bring to it as well’ (FG1, P4, p.14).

V. 1.3 The value of fiction reading The fieldwork has clearly indicated that fiction reading has a positive impact on wellbeing: With the reservation of books that could be traumatic due to their content, focus group participants could not come up with any really detrimental aspects to their wellbeing when reading fiction. Even books with traumatic content were sometimes considered to have a positive impact by some participants, as they could exercise a cathartic effect. The questionnaire results also clearly showed that fiction reading has a solely positive effect on the majority of participants who read fiction (47 out of 79), with nobody indicating an overall negative outcome of reading fiction. At the same time, there was a fairly high number of people (27 out of 79) saying that fiction reading can have a positive and a negative effect depending on the book. This suggests the importance of choosing the ‘right’ book for each person. A minority of participants (5 out of 79) said that reading fiction had no effect on them.

When research participants were asked to identify the positive effects fiction reading has on them, the answers given were very much in tune with the research literature: Pleasure and learning (and intellectual stimulation) were most frequently

79 mentioned in the questionnaires and focus groups both as motivation to read fiction and as a result of it. ‘It’s one of life’s pleasures – sitting reading.’ (FG3, P1, p.5) In respect to learning, the expansion of one’s horizons was mentioned: ‘… I feel that it’s books really that expand my horizons.’ (PFG, P2, p.14)

The aspect of identification with a character that could lead to empathy and an increase in social sensitivity was also talked about in focus groups, thus confirming Hartley’s (2001) findings. ‘Because you identify with the characters in fiction. There’s also a bit in the character that’s sort of you. Any book you read, you find a character, which you can identify with.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) ‘… it allows you to see things from someone else’s perspective. When it is written well, you can empathise with a character.’ (FG2, P4, p.1)

Moreover, the mention of relaxation by Usherwood & Toyne (2002), of an emotional outlet by Rosenblatt (1970) and of the experience of a wide range of feelings by Spufford (2002) were made by questionnaire and focus group participants as well. On the other hand, aesthetic pleasure as motive for and outcome of fiction reading was rarely mentioned in either the questionnaires or the focus groups.

Interestingly, focus group members have also - without being prompted - confirmed the core tenets of bibliotherapy as described by Fredrickson in the context of wellbeing (2000). Fiction reading was definitely related to stress relief. ‘I find it’s to do with stress relief. When I’m really stressed, I tend to read.’ (FG1, P7, p.11) It was further seen as a distraction from worries, problems and even as a means of alleviating depression. ‘Because if you get really involved in a book, you stop thinking about your own problems.’ (FG1, P4, p.11)

80 ‘… and certainly for myself when I get depressed, I often read – read to get away from my situation and think about other things.’ (FG2, P1, p.2) In addition, one focus group participant identified fiction reading as a means to prevent overeating and to alleviate boredom. ‘‘And the other thing everybody should never forget is how wonderful reading is for alleviating boredom, stuffing your face in a biscuit tin all the time.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) These comments are indicative of the potential inherent in fiction reading to raise levels of wellbeing. Whilst some of the participants might or might not suffer from an officially diagnosed mental health problem, they point out how helpful fiction reading is when not always feeling cheerful and relaxed in everyday life. They thus appear to support the validity of the extended form of bibliotherapy this research has proposed.

The importance of fiction reading in the everyday lives of many fiction readers has also been ascertained despite initially getting a very mixed picture: 33 out of 75 questionnaire respondents felt that fiction reading takes an important place in their everyday life, 28 did not consider fiction reading important and 14 respondents were not sure. In the focus groups, however, the significance of fiction reading on a daily basis was unsurprisingly (as participants were members of fiction reading groups) much stronger: Participants expressed their horror of not being able to read fiction in no uncertain and, in fact, very strong terms: ‘My absolute fear is not being able to read for some reason’. (FG2, P3, p.17) ‘How can you have lived – how can you say you have lived if you’ve never read a book?!’ (FG3, P4, p.18) In addition, reading fiction was compared to the consumption of food and the experience of being in love – core aspects of human life. These comments perfectly mirror the findings by Usherwood & Toyne (2002), who showed in their research study how participants felt that not being able to read seemed to entail a great loss to them and who even feared a loss of identity and claimed that they would feel dead. Ross’ (1999) findings of participants’ depictions of absence and deprivation in

81 the case of not being able to read also closely reflect the import of the quotations above. All these findings express how essential fiction reading is to these participants and how the activity and process of reading cannot be separated from their identity and sense of self.

Gardiner (2007), Towey (2001) and Radway (1997) have emphasised the importance of choosing one’s fiction reading material in order to get the full benefits out of reading. The results from the questionnaires confirmed this claim: 35 out of 79 respondents expressed that making their own choices as to what fiction they read was very important to them, 29 respondents considered such choice as fairly important and only 15 respondents claimed that it was not important to them. The data collected in the focus groups, however presented a more varied picture: Participants were very happy to read books that the member of library staff who conducted the reading group chose for them. In fact, they regarded this aspect as a benefit. At the same time, they liked choosing their fiction books on their own outside the reading group context. On the whole, this suggests that individual choice seems to be a crucial factor for the quality of the reading experience, but that there are instances where patrons appreciate books being chosen for them, which will be looked at in more detail below. Ross (2001) regarded mood as the most significant element in how people choose their reading material. Focus group participants also put forward this view: ‘And it can be dependent on your mood, you know.’ (FG1, P1, p.9) ‘If my brain’s feeling a bit tired, then I might read the chick lit or something very fluffy. But if you feel a bit more energised, then you might read something a bit more taxing.’ (FG1, P5, p.10) Moreover, alerting resources such as recommendations or reviews, which Ross (2001) mentioned, were also brought up in the focus groups. ‘Because quite frequently now we’ll have ‘If you liked this book, you might like to read so and so

82 and so and so.’ And I think, ‘well, yes, I might give that a try and see if I do like it.’ (FG3, P3, p.3)

In respect to the kind of fiction that is preferred or that has the most beneficial effect on readers, a variety of different answers was elicited, identifying a range of genres. In the focus groups as well, the preferences for certain genres were divided. Although many respondents (40) identified the classics, often associated with the canon, as conducive to raising feelings of wellbeing, this genre was neither at the top of the list (45 respondents chose modern fiction) in this respect nor was it the preferred fiction reading material with only 4 out of 49 respondents giving it as their preference. Usherwood’s (2007) and Katz’s (2001) emphasis on the classics and the canon as highly beneficial as well as very well-liked reading material should thus certainly be put in perspective and appreciated and fostered together with other genres of fiction, which are popular and allegedly raise levels of wellbeing such as modern fiction. Towey’s (2001) belief in the suitability of series books to increase flow and absorption in reading through offering familiar types of stories but with new plots every time was shared by one of the focus group participants: ‘And that’s why it’s sometimes quite nice to read books where the same characters appear in a series because in the development you sort of see what’s happened to them next.’ (FG3, P1, p.15)

V. 2. Reading and public libraries V. 2.1 Importance of libraries & leisure reading Turner (2008) stated that libraries contribute to the quality of life, and Hayes and Morris (2005) claimed that libraries give best value and are essential to public library users’ lives. The questionnaire data reveals that 44 out of 87 participants visit the library at least once a week, 29 participants come into the library at least once a month and only 14 participants frequent the library once a year or slightly more often. This high frequency of library visits by users suggests indeed that the library takes an important, if not an essential, place in patrons’ lives.

83 In the focus groups, participants especially appreciated the fact that they are able to borrow so many books without having to pay for them. ‘I read far more because I’m in the library. I never wanted to put in my house all the books that I read or pay for them all. So I know the library is really an important part of my life because… I read hundreds of more books, because they are all there.’ (FG2, P1, p.5) Public libraries thus definitely seem to offer value for money to patrons and do actively promote leisure reading, as set out by the DCMS (2003). Turner’s (2008) comment on the inclusive nature of public libraries was reflected in statements made by focus group participants, who considered this aspect as one of the public library’s greatest assets: ‘… there’s nothing to stop anybody from coming to this group.’ (FG1, P1, p.18) Hayes and Morris (2005) stressed the restorative nature of libraries. This declaration finds to some extent an echo in this research in questionnaire participants’ responses to the question whether going to the library makes them feel good: 68 out of 89 participants who responded to this question clearly confirmed this, whilst 16 participants were not sure and only 5 participants answered this question in the negative. Oldenburg’s (1996-97) emphasis on public libraries’ function as third places that have a strong social component was only confirmed in the context of reading groups and other reader development events, but not in a more general way of conceiving the library space as such as an opportunity to socialise. However, it might be the case that focus group participants merely were not aware of the social component being a motive for visiting the public library.

V. 2.2 Reader Development & Advisory Train’s (2003) elucidation of the passive approach to reader development, which respects that some patrons might not want to be approached by library staff but look at the books at the library quietly on their own found expression in both the questionnaire data and in what focus group participants said: The questionnaire data revealed that only a minority of patrons asked library staff for advice on

84 reading (13 out of 89); focus group participants made it very clear that they did usually not want or need library staff’s intervention when browsing the shelves: ‘If they want advice, then I think so. But I think the beauty of the library is that you can go in, you can browse.’ (FG2, P4, p.6) This ties in with Greenhalgh’s (1993) depiction of the library as a private public place where personal space is not expected to be invaded. It implies, as Emberton & Stanley (2008) have pointed out, that library staff should be careful not to rush up to patrons in an attempt to be helpful and visible, but respect their general preference for some private space. At the same time, more than half of the questionnaire respondents’ (44 out of 87 respondents) said that it is the librarian’s role to give advice and guidance, and the focus group participants commented that they should do so if asked – but only then. Emberton & Stanley’s (2008) view that librarians need to be alert to customers who need help reflects this opinion. In order to be able to assist those customers, questionnaire participants believed that librarians need to be most of all well-read, which is also mentioned as a prerequisite for an effective reader’s advisory by Moyer (2007) and Lack (1985) although they also emphasise good communication skills as a prerequisite that is of equal significance. Focus group participants welcomed some limited form of intervention by the librarian when they spent time browsing in the form of brief oral comments or reviews to show their engagement with the material: ‘I think it’s quite nice if they actually say to us very very occasionally – someone said ‘oh, yes, I enjoyed so and so.’ It makes you – it is just positive.’ (FG3, P2, p.22) The topic of book stock selection as another facet of passive reader development was also touched upon in focus groups. Participants’ comments were consistent with the pronouncements made by Coleman (1992) and Ross (2001), which centred on the importance of procuring a wide range of reading material. ‘I think it’s a problem with – with small libraries actually…. When I come here, there are loads and loads and loads of books. I go to my local library, there is hardly anything there.’ (FG2, P3, p.9)

85 Although participants in this research were rather wary of active reader development on the part of the librarian when they just come into the library on their own to browse or take some books out, there were some forms of active reader development that focus group participants enthusiastically welcomed: One-off events such as author visits and interactive reader-to-reader activities as described by Tootill (2007), which are organised by the library, were in fact very popular and highly appreciated: ‘One particularly positive thing is the kind of reader, writer or author events [inaudible] lovely. When authors come and talk to us… I like – that’s really interesting because you get together with other reading groups.’ (FG2, P2, p.14) There was a great demand for the continuation of such events: ‘Yeah, to promote reading that we’re interested in.’ (FG2, P4, p.15)

V. 2.3 Reading groups Reading groups, which are today an important part of a librarian’s responsibilities as regards active reader development, have been described as highly popular attracting a high number of readers. This claim has to be put in the wider context though: Whilst the members in the reading groups that participated in this research were indeed highly enthusiastic about their reading groups, only a relatively small proportion (7 out of 78) of library users that filled in the questionnaire said that they were part of a reading group. This suggests that, whilst reading groups are certainly popular amongst many people, there are many others who might not necessarily want to join one.

Long’s (1987, in: Hartley, 2001) claim that reading groups do not very much engage with either very light or very complex fiction was to some extent confirmed in the observations and the focus groups: With the exception of one novel, which was identified by one of the reading group members as chick lit, the reading groups seemed to generally read popular modern fiction without engaging much with fiction on either end of the spectrum. Moreover, there seemed to be a tendency to

86 read realist fiction, which ties in with Hartley’s (2001) observation that realism is frequently the mode of fiction predominantly chosen in reading groups. Bessman Taylor’s (2007) consideration that it is difficult to say what makes ‘a good read’ in a reading group was echoed amongst focus group participants: ‘I think it’s so – I think reading is so personal, I think it’s difficult to say really.’ (FG2, P3, p.12) Moreover, focus group members mentioned - like Bessman Taylor (2007) – the aspect of discussability of a book as a general criterion for good reading material for reading groups. Along the lines of Bessman Taylor (2007), participants believed that a variety of opinions was beneficial for having a good reading group session: ‘The most interesting discussions come where people haven’t enjoyed the book… But if it’s something that half of the group didn’t like and half of the group did, then you get a really interesting discussion.’ (FG2, P2, p.12) During the observations, however, reading group members mainly seemed to be in agreement with each other about a particular book. The fact that the discussions tended to be rather short could possibly be put down to too much agreement between members, which would substantiate the idea that the existence of different views contributes to a successful reading group session.

Kendrick (2001) postulates that there has to be an atmosphere of trust, openness and tolerance of different viewpoints in a reading group in order to gain the full benefits from it. Such an atmosphere could definitely be detected in the reading groups that formed part of this research, and it might have been at least partly due to this that the reading group members appeared relaxed, interested, engaged and seemed to enjoy themselves. They certainly showed empathy towards each other, which gives substance to Hartley’s (2001) insistence on empathy playing a key role in reading groups. Sagar’s declaration that good reading groups open horizons and expand the range of genres readers would normally engage with was clearly reproduced by focus group participants: ‘Broaden your horizons a bit more.’ (FG2, P2, p.9)

87 ‘I’ve read far more – a different range of things since I started coming to book group, which is interesting.’ (FG2, P3, p.5) As the widening of people’s reading is one of the key concepts in reader development, it becomes obvious that reading groups take a crucial place in reader development. Scobey’s (2004) understanding of reading groups as an entity where ideas become enriched through other people’s contributions is reflected in the following focus group participants’ comments: ‘A different interpretation. Perhaps – perhaps I have misread – not misread it, but misinterpreted it, you know, there is another point of view then.’ (FG2, P5, p.17) ‘And it’s just interesting to come and find somebody in the same group who’s got something entirely different from the same book – whose ideas are directly opposite from yours, who’s got a suggestion as to what’s gone on in the book that had never occurred to you.’ (FG3, P1, p.1) These depictions above can be compared to Hartley’s (2001) and Bessman Taylor’s (2007) accounts of readers being engaged in the process of shared creation.

Against this background, Kendrick’s (2001) comments on the social aspect of reading groups become significant. Meeting other people and interacting with them in the reading group context is obviously valued, as focus group members emphasised: ‘Oh, we always have great fun at the book club. That is – it’s got to be fun… as well as reading the book, I come for the people and to have a bloody good laugh.’ (FG1, P2, p.1) ‘It takes away the isolation.’ (FG3, P1, p.1) In fact, it is such an important part of being a reading group member that focus group participants say that they even come to the group if they have not read the book and are happy for others to come as well in this case. ‘I’d never not come because I haven’t read it.’ (FG1, P4, p.9) ‘You haven’t got to read the book. It isn’t like, you – you can’t stay at the meeting because you haven’t read the book.’ (FG1, P2, p.9)

88 These claims were certainly in tune with what had previously been observed in the actual reading group sessions. Along those lines, Ross’ (2006) concept of communities of readers also finds expression in a focus group participant’s mention of collective ownership: ‘I like the idea of – of me reading it and someone else reading it. I like the idea of shared ownership… But I think I like the idea that there’s a common – commonly held pool.’ (FG2, P1, p.5)

In respect to concerns or potentially negative aspects of reading groups, Ross et al.’s (2006) consideration that there might be anxieties amongst some reading group members of not being educated or informed enough has not been confirmed in the particular reading groups that were part of this research. Some focus group participants rather took issue with an intellectual or academic approach to the book discussion. ‘And just occasionally you might get a number of people who were quite intellectual in their approach. That can be a bit frustrating if they are talking about the way that the – the words are put together.’ (FG3, P2, p.4-5) Although these concerns are seemingly opposite in nature, they both suggest discrepancies of interest regarding the approach to reading, which can lead to dissatisfaction amongst reading group participants as seen in the statement above. Similarly, Hartley’s (2001) aspect of poor group dynamics as a factor that can detract from the reading group experience is also echoed in focus group participants’ comments: ‘As P2 said, we’re going to another reading group … and P2 and I could name three people who we know will speak for twenty minutes each and the rest of us know that – that you’re about to say something and you can’t.’ (FG3, P3, p.9) Being constantly in disagreement with the others was – in the pilot focus group - also perceived as a rather unpleasant experience. ‘But my mum was in a reading group and she ended up not going any more in the end because she always disagreed very much with what everybody else said.’ (PFG, P2, p.12) In this context, Kendrick’s (2001) consideration that members might feel hurt if certain feelings about a book are not shared seemed relevant in the focus groups as

89 well: ‘And it can be quite hurtful if they don’t like the book that you think is wonderful.’ (FG3, P2, p.7) In order to forestall such an experience, focus group members sometimes admitted to what Kendrick (2001) described as keeping the reading experience safe by not talking about certain books, which are regarded as too personal. ‘Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. And I absolutely loved that and I wouldn’t entertain sitting down hearing anybody else’s view about it. I do not want to know what anybody else thinks about it.’ (FG3, P3, p.6)

However, neither in the literature nor in the observation or focus groups have these negative aspects of reading groups, which could sometimes make an appearance, predominated. The benefits of readings groups have certainly not been overshadowed by them and focus group members made it quite clear that the reading group experience is most of all very rewarding to them: ‘Yeah. It’s special. We look forward to it.’ (FG2, P3, p.17)

Scobey’s (2004) view of libraries as being excellent places for reading groups to gather was generally shared amongst focus group participants: ‘Oh yes, it is perfect.’ (FG3, P1, p.21) ‘And it’s a nice space, isn’t it, really for us to have?’ (FG3, P2, p.22) The observations definitely showed how well participants inhabited the place and felt comfortable there. In a more general way, however, one focus group participant remarked that there had to be the right space available in the library building for reading groups to be held successfully: ‘Only if it’s upstairs and if it’s private like this. It wouldn’t work in the main library. We just couldn’t do it. You distract too many people. As long as you’ve got a space like this.’ (FG1, P2, p.17) Hartley’s (2001) observation that the advantages of public libraries as venues for reading groups are that books are given to participants, space is provided and that there is usually even facilitation involved through a member of library staff, was also made by focus group participants: ‘… this is good because we are given the book.’ (FG3, P2, p.21)

90 ‘The library facilitates it very well.’ (FG1, P4, p.18) In respect to facilitation, which Hartley (2001) describes as being part of the librarian’s duties, an active approach was very much appreciated by reading group members as the observations and focus groups have shown.

91 VI. Conclusions VI. 1. Reading and wellbeing Fiction reading has clearly been shown to have an overall beneficial effect on the wellbeing of individuals. This research has, however, also revealed that the impact of fiction reading depends on various (personal) factors such as on the mood the reader is in or on the life circumstances at the time of reading. Reading is therefore clearly a very personal and individual act, and for reading to have the most beneficial effect it is crucial to get the ‘right’ book for a particular reader at a certain time. Ideally, if reader and book match, there is an element of flow and absorption in the reading process, which amplifies the impact of fiction reading. Fiction where the narrative element is very strong and the characters are multi-dimensional and credible help to induce flow. A realistic stance, which facilitates the identification between reader and character, is also conducive to experiencing flow. The actual positive aspects of fiction reading in the context of wellbeing are manifold in their nature: Amongst them, the experience of pleasure and enjoyment figure largely. The element of learning and expanding one’s horizons, for example by learning about other cultures, countries or times, is also significant. Empathy can be actively developed through fiction reading. A cathartic effect of fiction reading has also been mentioned: Crucially, fiction readers frequently feel how reading offers them a distraction from their problems, worries and even from depression at the same time as providing them with some form of stress relief and relaxation. It is escapism in the most positive sense of the term, which engages the imagination and involves creativity on the part of the reader. Fiction readers, particularly those in reading groups, have described fiction reading as being life-transforming and as very much embedded in their daily lives and their identities.

VI. 2. Bibliotherapy and the library The public library is ideally positioned for reaching out to individuals and getting them into fiction reading. Creative bibliotherapy, defined in this research as the use

92 of fiction material to increase levels of wellbeing, should thus be well situated in the public library context. Offering a wide variety of stock to meet patrons’ diverse needs is a precondition to being successful in it. Whilst librarians need to be alert to patrons who want some advice and guidance on their reading material, they should refrain from rushing towards patrons and offering their help, however, as one of the positive aspects of coming to the library has been identified as being able to browse on one’s own and having a space where one could just sit down with a book and read for a while. Active reader development in the form of reading groups or annual as well as one- off events such as literature festivals and author events are generally highly appreciated amongst patrons though: They thus discover new authors and, particularly in reading groups, often engage with genres they have so far not been familiar with or read books they might otherwise not necessarily have chosen to read. This often leads to wider reading, which increases the chances that readers find the books they can best engage with at the time and that have the most powerful and beneficial effect on their wellbeing. In addition, reader development events can attract individuals who have so far not been into reading to books and make a real difference to the quality of their lives. The public library’s role in fostering wellbeing through fiction reading is very real and needs to be taken seriously. A proactive approach on the part of the library and members of staff is needed to connect readers and fiction, which presupposes sensitivity towards readers’ needs, an understanding of the reading process and a knowledge of fiction material.

93 VII. Recommendations for future research

• The collected data could be further analysed to establish and explore significant co-relations between themes, for example between learning and pleasure as positive aspects of reading. • A greater sample of patrons could be used to see how representative the results of this research are. This could be done on a countrywide scale if possible. • There is room for looking at how creative bibliotherapy in the way defined here might work best for particular groups of patrons, such as for children and adolescents. • Future research could explore the impact of specific Reader Development events on wellbeing in more depth. Particularly the ancient tradition of storytelling deserves more attention in this context. • It could be worthwhile to investigate the possible advantages of reading activities that are more technology-driven, for example electronic readers, reading groups on the Internet, blogs on books and reading. • There is an opportunity to further study the role of the librarian as bibliotherapist, especially with regard to what it involves. • It should be useful to put more emphasis on the role language plays in the reading experience by taking up a more linguistically focused study of reading and wellbeing. • A more in-depth psychological study of fiction reading and its impact on wellbeing could also be undertaken. • It should be interesting to research creative writing in bibliotherapy as an associated creative process that could foster wellbeing.

Word count: 24,873.

94 Appendices

Appendix One: Questionnaire & Additional Findings from Questionnaire Questionnaire: The reading of fiction and personal wellbeing.

Section One. Questions about you. Q1. Your gender: male  female  rather not say  Q2. How old are you? 16-19  20-29  30-39  40-49  50-59  60 +  Q3. How would you white  mixed  black or black British  Asian or Asian describe your ethnicity? British  other ethnic group 

Section Two. Questions about your reading habits Q4. Do you read fiction? Yes  If “yes” go to question Q6. No  If “no” go to question Q5. Q5. If you answered “no” to Q4 what are your reasons for not reading fiction?

After completing this question, please proceed to Q.18 Q6. If you answered “yes” to Q4, how much do you read in an average week? Tick the one answer that is most appropriate. (Part of) a book  Two books  Three books  Four books  Five books  More than five books  Q7. Does reading fiction take an important place in your everyday Yes  No  Not sure  life? Q8. Reasons why you read fiction. I read to relax.  Tick all that apply. I read to relieve stress.  I read to get me off to sleep.  I read for pure pleasure.  I read to escape reality.  I read to find comfort.  I read to learn and broaden my horizons.  I read to socialise (with others).  I read because I think I should.  Other.  Please say why you read fiction if you read for another reason than the ones listed. Q9. Do you get wholly absorbed in Yes  [go to Q10] Sometimes  [go to Q10] No the fiction you read?  [go to Q11]

95 Q10. Does this improve your Yes  Sometimes  reading experience? No  Not sure  Q11. Do you think different people Yes  No  Not sure  have different experiences when they read the same book? Q12. Which of the following I read quickly without thinking too much about it.  statements best describes how you I read? read slowly and think about what I read and interpret it.  Tick all that apply. I read quickly and think about what I read at the same time.  Q13. Do you feel that reading has Positive effect  Negative effect  No an effect on your wellbeing? Tick effect  one answer only. Both positive and negative depending on the book 

Q14. Which genres of literature affect your feeling of wellbeing if any? Tick all that apply. Genre Positive Negative Genre Positive Negative Genre Positive Negative Poetry   Plays   Short stories   Historical   Murder   Chick Lit   fiction mystery / Thriller / detective stories Romance   Classics   SciFi   Adventure   Literature   Graphic   from novels different countries

Q15. Which genres of literature do you prefer to read? Tick only one. Genre Genre Genre Poetry  Plays  Short stories  Historical  Murder  Chick Lit  fiction mystery / Thriller / Detective stories Romance  Classics  SciFi  Adventure  Literature  Graphic  from novels different countries

Q16. Do you talk to others about the books you Yes  Sometimes  No  have read? Q17. Do you belong to a reading group? Yes  No  Q18. How important is it to you that your fiction Very important  Fairly important  Not important  reading material is based on your own personal choices? Q19. How often do you normally visit the public At least once a week  library? At least once a month  At least once a year 

96 Q20. Does going to the public library make you feel Yes  No  Not sure  good? Q21. Do you ask the librarian to suggest reading Yes  [go to Q22] Sometimes  [go to Q22] material? No  [go to Q23]

Q22. Did the librarian’s recommendations have a Yes  No  Not sure  positive impact on your reading experience? Q23. Is it the librarian’s role to give advice and Yes  No  Not sure  guidance on reading material?

Please give reasons for your answer.

Thank you for completing this questionnaire.

Additional findings from the questionnaire

Reasons for not reading fiction "Not really interested." "Lack of time." "I'm not interested. I'm interested in factual written material. There is so much to learn!" "I don't like to read fiction because it is somebody making a story up. Where as I prefer to read fact because this has happened." "Prefer fact based documentary style books.- Usually lose track of the plot in fictional books (wife likes the central heating high and I always fall asleep!)" "I prefer (reading) fact or reality rather than fiction." "because it's not real. And because the non-fiction books I read are to help one with my course." "Because fiction books are generally similar. So its rather boring and predictable." "Prefer Autobiography and Biography and History." "More interested in factual, i.e. biography, science etc." "I like biographies. Real life, at time, is more fiction than fiction book." "prefer factual books"

Other' reasons for fiction reading "also to increas my interlect."

97 "To learn about different writing styles and techniques." "To pass the time while travelling." "Expand my vocabulary." "To appreciated the creativity of other people." "Sheer enjoyment. To stimulate the imagination." “Cause it is something I like as well as watching." "I read thrillers such as 'The da Vinci Code' because I find them exciting & intriguing." "Newspapers" "Excitement / Stimulation" "To help with my reading." "I am attracted to anything related to Victorian Culture and Literature." "Escape TV watching."

Advice and guidance as librarian's role "She / He is not just a piece of furniture and someone to give out / get in the books. And this would be boring for them as well. And I think they should love books and read enough to be able to suggest!!" "I never realy ask for advice on books as I always prefer my own choices." "I believe a librarian should know how to find what you are looking for." "To help people unsure of titles / content." "I think it's important that librarians are able to make recommendations when needed. It could make a big diference to someone's enjoyment of reading in general." "Sometimes they can point out a book you would normally have overlooked." "It would be part of their remit so they can advise those who want / need it, but should not be imposed on visitors." "This could feel like an intrusion into one's personal tastes + preferences - helping locate literature + then perhaps making suggestions would be less intrusive if spontaneous! Not a 'sales' pitch." "Not sure if they have the range of knowledge to advise at a specific level, i.e. authors. Do they?" "Can't expect librarian to read / know all books in library." "Not everyone reads news papers or search the Internet to find guidance on reading material. The librarian is best placed to assist."

98 "I suppose if people request help / advice it is part of their role to do so." "My understanding is that librarians hardly ever read the books!" "Yes, if the reader requires some guidance on the reading material." "Because I think most people would expect a librarian to be very knowledgable on a wide range of subjects." "Im not sure what a librarians job discription is." "Every one has their own personal taste." "The librarian knows the books so can help others choose them." "Some people require advice, particularly with recent publications." "He / she suggests & knows more books that are available." "They are more efficient & quicker in searching or reaching a solution as per resources." "because I think the people have different type of book so it is not easy to give guidance on reading material." "They are more experienced with books so are able to understand which books are best suited for a certain age group for example." "It's helpful to have librarians who are trained to do this, as it can benefit the reader." "Just to if they feel confident to give me advice." "To give advice when asked, but not otherwise." "It's a personal choice what appears to you literally. Its subjective not objective." "Because they should have knowledge of, or know where to get the (?), what information that you require." "If requested - yes. Librarian would have (should have) a wide range of reading experience. Could broaden reading horizons." "But not the sole role, and not necessarily; but it's a useful aspect of the work of a librarian." “If I felt the need to ask, I would expect to be given relevant information, but largely I see the librarian in much the same position as a till operator in a shop." "Only if the librarian's advice has been requested." "I already know what I want when I arrive at the library. I usually reserve my books in advance." "He is more experienced when it comes to reading advice & guidance." "It can be, however reading is a personal experience, and different people find beauty in different books."

99 "I think it is up to the individual to ask for advice & guidance." "Maybe for some visitors but I would never ask for suggestions." "To be a librarian you should have a passion for books and stories. She should be able to advice someone, that is, if they're asking for advice." "Because I like to choose my own." "I have asked about various books but the librarian doesn't seem to have read them. I do on the whole find the librarians very helpful." "Product knowledge." "I think that could be helpful for some people however I don't think that is the librarian's sole purpose." "I don't want advice & guidance, but others might." "Very dependent on the person - I work in a school library and that's what most children want - but I like to choose my own." "I've never been aware if giving advice & guidance concerning reading material was part of the role of beeing a librarian." "Yes, I think if asked they should suggest books they have enjoyed with a brief explanation why." "I'm an adult with my own mind, a librarian (except in the reading group) would not be able to advise me." "I mainly visit the library for work purposes +find the wealth of knowledge the librarians hold is phenomenal. I am confident that if requested, their recommendations on reading material would be excellent. I would take their advice." "Because the librarian doesn't know me and my preferences." "Doubt the librarian could know what any other person would like. On the other hand, they know the stock and might point out possibilities in a general way. Personally, wouldn't feel a need for such a service." "Librarian should be well-read knowledgeable people. Good at mixing with public." "Role far wider than this; cataloguing, PR keeping library tidy, checking books in & out etc." "I prefer to choose what I want to read." "if required. One might require guidance if developing a specific interest. New readers might require guidance." "Part of the job maybe!!!" "Part of role." "Its never oceverd to Me."

100 "I should be directed to the sources easily through the librarian." "The expectation is that being surrounded by books, all librarians are well read. There isn't anybody else to ask advice in a library."

101 Appendix Two: Observation Notes

Observation of Reading Group One on 17.06.2009

General background: ten participants, all women, range of age groups from women in the twenties to women beyond middle age

Facilitator does not intervene very much, but mainly lets people freely talk about whatever they want to discuss about the book – merely starts the discussion off after the members initially talked about something else and occasionally comments during the session

General process / structure / content: there was no discernible structure to the reading group; novel discussed: Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth

Taylor; members talked about scenes and closely related them to their own lives – realis m is tested;

evaluation of the characte rs’ behaviour; discussion of the blurb; reference to film

Engagement (with books…): one member seems to be asleep for most of the

session, but she hadn’t read the book; otherwise, great engaemen t with the reading

material, passionate about discussing their reading; clearly emotional responses to what has been

read

Interaction: chaotic at the beginning when almost everybody speaks at once; one member seems to dominate the discussion but not in an aggressive or intimidating way; but overall impression: although members sometimes talk at

the same time, they also listen and relate to each other’s comments a lot – suggests a

genuine interes t in the ohet rs’ opinions; they mainly express agreement when they relate to each

102 other (most people have liked the book); generally, relaxed atmosphere in which members

feel obviously at ease with each other – they laugh togethe,r address each other by their first names, they

are attentive to each othe r and show relaxed postures (they lean back in their chairs and

lean a bit forward when they speak)  they seem to enjoy the engaement with each othe r

Impact of surroundings: spacious and bright room, confortable chairs, open

door; two tables pushed together members seem to inhabit this space very well

Members’ feelings after session: seem to be happy and relaxed

Observation of Reading Group Two on 24.06.2009

General background: five participants, all women, range of age group probably from mid- / late twenties to late middle age

Facilitator starts the discussion with an open-ended question; tends to let the people talk about aspects of the book they want to concentrate on; does regularly come up with more open-ended questions though, which gives the group more ideas about what they could explore together; seems to strike the right balance between letting the group discuss the text freely and intervening unobtrusively by suggesting aspects that they could discuss.

General process / structure / content: there was no visible structure to the reading group; novel discussed: The Supper Club by Sophie King; most of the discussion was spent on looking at the novel’s characte;rs the pace of the book was also mentioned as was the genre:

103 members identified the novel as either being chic k lit or at least resembling the genre; easy and quick read, which they seemed to have enjoyed on the whole without being too enthusiastic

about it; not a novel that seemed to have left a deep impression on them; the

discussion thus seemed to exhaust itself after about ten minutes; it seemed that there were just not enough aspec ts (e.g.

the kind of plot, characters, style, language used) that would lend themselves to an

interesting discussion.

At one point, one of the members expressed a developmental view of readin:g she believed that people might start reading something light and then move on to something more challenging.

Engagement with book: one member hardly participated at all, but it seemed that this was not so much the result of disinterest on her part, but that she was just generally more quiet; the others were happy to engae with the book through discussion, but did not seem overly passionate about it, which was clearly the result of not having been too excited about the novel.

Interaction: People responded to each other we ll by commenting on what had been said or even asking a question when something that had been said was not quite clear or could be further explored. Most of the time they expressed consent with the other members’ observations; seemed very comfortable with each other; also, two of the people knew each other from outside the reading group and were friends, who tended to go somewhere else together after the reading group – this friendship did not, however, make them focus to much on each other, but they engaged with all the others – the

104 friendship between the two women thus probably rather relaxed the atmosphere further; lively interaction between members.

Impact of surroundings: The members inhabit their surroundings well; they seem comfortable in their chairs.

Members’ feelings after session: The members seemed to be cheerful and contented.

Observation of Reading Group Three on 01.07.2009

General background: six participants, all women, mainly elderly – one slightly younger, but all retired

Facilitator lets the discussion develop on its own accord; however, whenever it falters a bit, she intervenes and asks some carefully prepared questions that she had noted down: these questions are more general to start with, then become more specific in their character; the more specific questions centre on a certain scene or character, also one where empathy with a character might play a role; another question is whether the description of violence is really necessary; introduces an interpretation of an aspect of the novel by a review; also voices her own opinion  a lot of intervention or facilitation when there is silence [much more than the facilitators in the other reading groups who mainly let the conversation end when people don’t say anything any more]; seems to work well [later confirmed in

105 comments in the FG]; she effectively stimulates the discussion by making people look at different

aspects of the novel.

General process / structure / content: there wasn’t a clearly identifiable structure; novel discussed: The

Wasp Factory by Iain Banks; participants were happy to start talking about the (crime) novel even whilst the member of library staff / facilitator was still busy

preparing drinks; initially, members discussed the title, whether they liked the nove l and the gender perspective it was written from, as this proved to be an important aspect in the novel; comparisons were made: to different books by the same author, to a different film, to a different book by a different author; pace of the book: differences there – one found it hard to put down, thought it was a compulsive read and not very difficult, whereas another member found it hard to pick it up again; more or less agreement in people thinking that the author was a oodg write,r but that they at the same time did no t like the book very much or even found it nasty or coul d not see the point of it; also agreement in that the first person narrative worked for the story and was believable; images / pictures evoked were discussed and generally found memorable  not a novel that would easily be forgotten even if it was not liked – generally, members were able to differentiate between positive and negative aspects in the novel.

Engagement with book: some members clearly talk a lot more about the book than others, but this can be explained insofar as only half the members have read the book from start to finish; members are happy to engae with the book; involvemen,t but maybe no t in the most passionate way, which can be explained by the dislike members felt towards it.

106

Participation & Interaction: obviously, the members who had read the book participated a lot

more and there was one member who did participate the most; however, it cannot be

said that someone dominated the conversation in a negative way; members listened to each

othe r and responded through questions and comments; relatively animated interaction, e.g. when they revisit scenes; they ool k at each othe r and definitely seem to be at ease with each other, which is also obvious when they are open in their comments; sometimes a bit of dry humo ur is shared.

Impact of surroundings: people seem very comfortable, lean back in their chair,s appear happy to have space on the tables to put their books down; inhabit the room very we ll [also, later on in the FG, make a comment along those lines – like the room, enjoy being there]

Members’ feelings after the session: members seem to be in good spirit.s

General observations: Social aspec t of the reading group seems important, as three members come even though they have not read the book and might thus not be in the best position to participate; they enjoy the little ex tras they get such as tea and biscui ts [right before the start of the group, one member mentions jokingly how the biscuits (and the tea) are the best things about the reading group].

107

Appendix Three: Question outline for focus groups, reflections and analysed data Question outline:

Focus group questions (general)

108

1. The reading experience: a) Tell me some positive things about the reading experience. b) Are there any negative experiences associated with reading?

2. Do reading groups enhance or detract from the reading group experience? 3. What would make the reading group even better?

Focus groups [reading groups & the reading experience] – more detailed questions

1. How often do you meet up? (background info) 2. Who chooses the books you read? (background info) 3. What kind of books do you mainly read, i.e. fiction (poetry, novels…)? (background info) 4. How long have you been part of this reading group? (background info) 5. Have you been part of a reading group before? (background info) 6. What (fiction) books do you like most, e.g. thrillers, classics, short stories…? 7. Does fiction offer you a different kind of reading experience than non- fiction? If ‘yes’, please explain in what way this is meaningful. 8. How is textual meaning created? [probe: Does the author give the text particular meanings or does the reader come up with meanings for the text or is meaning creation at work on both sides?] 9. Does reading in general improve your sense of wellbeing? If ‘yes’, explain in what way. 10. What do you like about being part of a reading group? [main focus; probe: Are there any benefits to reading books you have not chosen yourself? …]

109 11. Do you like talking about most or all of the books you have read? Are there books that you do not want to discuss but rather just read for yourself? 12. What books make a ‘good read’ in the reading group? [probe: books that are liked? books where opinions differ? ‘best’ books, prize-winning or shortlisted books?] 13. Does your view of certain texts change after you have listened to other group members’ input on them? 14. Do you generally feel better after a meeting with the reading group? If ‘yes’, explain in what way. 15. Do you think public libraries are particularly suitable locations to hold reading groups in? Give a reason for your opinion. 16. What can librarians do to help patrons find books that are most conducive to their sense of wellbeing?

Reflections:

110 Evaluation of the Pilot Focus Group from 11.06.2009

The general process The focus group that was piloted on June 11th 2009 in a small group study room at the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield consisted of three participants and myself, the facilitator, lasted for forty-nine minutes and was recorded on tape. I briefly explained my research and let the participants read the Information Sheet and sign the Consent Form. I then asked the participants general questions about reading, which became a little bit more specific after a while and then shifted focus slightly to the experience of reading in a reading group.

Location and timing The group study room was a good location to have the focus group in. Not only was it quiet so that the group was undisturbed, but it was also small enough to create the kind of pleasant, informal atmosphere that is conducive to the free, uninhibited flow of conversation. The timing of the focus group seemed generally appropriate, but could be improved on: As it took a while for the participants to read the Information Sheet and then sign the Consent Form, it appears better to let participants of future focus groups read the Information Sheet at home. Instead, I could briefly summarise the research project and let them sign the Consent Form, emphasising that they can withdraw from it at any time. Furthermore, the time that was spent on discussing reading in general seemed a little too long in comparison to the amount of time that was used for speaking about the reading group experience. In general, future focus groups need to be about twenty minutes shorter due to the time limit I was given by the external stakeholders. This means asking fewer questions and concentrating on the more general ones.

Facilitation

111 On the whole, the process of facilitation worked out as planned: Participants appeared to understand the questions immediately and responded to them in an interested and engaged manner. There was only one question that was phrased too much in the jargon employed by literary theory. It concerned the construction of meaning of a text and the role the reader plays in such meaning construction. This issue needs to be phrased in terms of whether different people have different experiences when reading the same text. It should thus be comprehensible to anyone and not only to those people who are well versed in literary theory. Furthermore, I received some positive feedback as to how I responded to participants’ comments: Repeating or paraphrasing these comments was useful to clarify what had been said and to encourage participants to contribute more by showing interest in their comments. However, occasionally I spoke too long so that it sometimes took too long until the participants were able to say something again. In addition, some of the questions were too leading and sometimes a question was phrased as a statement with a question mark at the end, which made it harder for the participants to think of their own reactions and ideas and not just merely agree to what had been said.

Evaluation of Focus Group One from 17.06.2009

112

Location and timing

The first focus group, which was conducted in a backroom of the library, consisted of nine participants and myself, lasted for thirty minutes and was recorded on tape.

The room in the library where the focus group was conducted was the ideal location: It was of small to medium size, which meant that it was neither so big that it felt impersonal or that the voices would not carry nor was it so small that it felt crammed so that people might feel uncomfortably close to each other. The chairs were also very comfortable and participants obviously relaxed in them. The fact that they sat around two tables, which had been pushed together, seemed to be conducive to the discussion, as this arrangement provided a certain degree of privacy whilst the distance between any of the participants was not very great. The room was also very quiet, as it was located at some distance to the lending library and only surrounded by offices, which were – at that time of the evening – empty. The timing of the focus group went very well: We managed to keep to the intended length of half an hour. A similar amount of time was spent on the discussion of reading in general and of talking about books in a reading group context, which was what had been planned.

Facilitation The focus group appeared to have been successfully facilitated. I generally allowed the conversation to take the direction the participants gave it. This was a decision I had to make right at the start when immediately after starting the focus group a participant directed the conversation to the reading group experience rather than to the individual reading event. It seemed more natural to go along with this instead of rigidly adhering to the originally envisaged sequence. This decision turned out to work well, as the discussion later on moved almost seamlessly to the phenomenon of reading in general.

113 I also tried to move from more general to more specific questions. Crucially, I often repeated what had been said or probed so that views and opinions became clearer and gained in depth. Only very occasionally did I have to bring the conversation back to the issues of interest when it went a little bit too much off on a tangent. The participants responded to this in a positive way and seemed happy to be led back. This was possible because I had established a good rapport with the participants who were willing and eager to make contributions and tried not to speak all at once, which had sometimes been the case during the reading group session and which happens easily with such a number of very lively people. They also all responded quickly to my questions on the whole, having no problems to understand them. I inferred from this that I pitched the language that I used at the right level and had this time managed to avoid literary jargon. The only hesitation in the context of answering my questions occurred when I asked about potentially negative aspects of reading groups. However, it became soon clear that participants did not struggle with how the question was phrased, but could instead not think of any negative experiences on the spur of the moment. In this case, I used some leading questions in order to make them start thinking of possible answers. This might not have been ideal, but it did provide me with a few answers in the end. After about half an hour, the discussion came to a kind of natural conclusion, as the participants started to become a little bit restless and it also seemed that the important issues had already been talked through.

Evaluation of Focus Group Two from 24.06.2009

114 Background and timing The second focus group, which was conducted in the same backroom in the library as the first one, consisted of initially six, towards the end of five participants and myself, lasted for thirty-two minutes and was recorded on tape.

Once again, participants seemed to be comfortable in the room where the focus group was held. The focus group was this time conducted before the reading group session and the observation took place, as not all of the members would be able to stay on afterwards, but they were ready to help me with my project. In view of the smaller number of participants, I agreed to do the focus group first so that I would not have an even smaller number of participants. However, this timing posed a slight difficulty insofar as the member of library staff who facilitates the reading group, was present and keen on doing something so I felt obliged to involve her as well. This was not originally planned, as the focus group participants were all supposed to be reading group members and not staff. Therefore, my spontaneous suggestion of her joining the discussion if she wanted to was inconsistent with my overall focus group approach and the rationale behind it. I will try and work around this flaw by clearly identifying the comments she made during the focus group session as hers in the transcript so that the focus can then be directed to the reading group members’ comments. The length of time that it took to conduct the focus group was generally appropriate.

Facilitation The way of opening the discussion by asking about positive reading experiences in general proved productive, as the participants definitely had something to say on this topic and the open-ended question was conducive to get participants talking. In the course of the discussion, the topic of reading sometimes moved too much backwards and forwards from one area such as reading and the library to another like reading groups. I could certainly have tried to make people focus on one aspect

115 of the topic at a time and explore each of those a bit more. The discussion would have been a bit less disjointed. I also did not ask the participants all the main questions or all of the more specific ones this time, which means that some gaps can be expected in responses that address my objectives. I will need to pay more attention to this next time and make sure that at least all my main questions have been answered in one way or another. Moreover, sometimes the conversation moved to issues that were not directly relevant to my focus group objectives any longer. Again, I believe that I should have intervened more at these times. However, sometimes the discussion raised issues that were very much part of my research but had not been intended to be explored in the focus group. One such issue was stock provision in public libraries. These unexpected comments were welcome and will be included for data analysis. Also, it happened sometimes that certain relevant aspects of the topic were mentioned even though I did not explicitly ask for the information. To sum up, I could have conducted this focus group better, but I still got relevant material from it.

Evaluation of Focus Group Three from 01.07.2009

116

Background and timing The focus group, which was conducted in the same backroom in the library as the first two, consisted of four participants and myself, lasted for forty-two minutes and was recorded on tape.

Participants inhabited the room in which the focus group was held well. The timing of the focus group did not quite go according to plan: Although I announced to participants before we started that the focus group would not take longer than half an hour, it did go on longer. However, this time it seemed that some additional time was needed to explore the topic a bit more, as it seemed to take the members a bit longer this time to present their ideas.

Facilitation I believe that I generally facilitated this mini focus group well. I managed to establish a good rapport with the members and let them decide whether they wanted to do some brainstorming exercise first on a piece of paper or preferred discussing the topic straight away. Like the other focus groups, the participants of this focus group chose the latter option. They appeared genuinely interested in the topic and were engaged. Although there were differences in the frequency and length of contributions the members made, all of them made valuable contributions and the differences could be put down to personality differences rather than to a potential resistance to actively take part in the focus group. I started with a general question about the benefits of reading. When one member immediately moved the discussion to the context of reading groups in order to debate reading against this background, I was flexible insofar as I then explored this issue first, as it seemed more natural to refer to the participant’s comments at that time and expand on them than immediately go back to my original question. When members made statements, I often repeated or rephrased what they said to make sure that they had been understood correctly and also in order to give other

117 members time to respond to what had been said. I think that this strategy was successful as were my probes because I did get more responses after a while. My questions were occasionally influenced by what had been said in previous focus groups even though I had not initially intended to do so. In hindsight, I think that this strategy provided me with a useful test whether some observations and remarks were unique to a particular group or were part of a more widespread phenomenon instead. My questions were understood immediately, which confirmed to me that I had in fact avoided unnecessary (literary) jargon and used language at an appropriate level for the participants. Sometimes, in my attempt to respond to members’ contributions and to keep the small focus group relatively informal and conversational, I spoke too much about my own experiences regarding aspects of the topic. This was probably unnecessary and increased the length of the focus group unduly. Participants might have made more contributions during this time instead. I managed to go from more general to more specific questions as planned and in this way covered all the aspects I set out to cover. At the same time, there was enough room for participants to come up with new insights and perceptions that were related to these aspects.

118 Analysed data: Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Importance of reading • Misery without reading ( essential) ‘One thing I really hate is when I’m so so busy that I haven’t got the time to read. I really really resent that. And it really gets me down… if I haven’t got a book on the go, I really just – it makes me unhappy actually’. (FG1, P1, p. 10-11) ‘You do feel a gap in your life when you haven’t got a book on the go’. (FG1, P2, p.12) ‘Yeah. I can’t imagine ever not having something –‘ - ‘to read, yeah’. (FG1, P3? & P2, p.12) ‘My biggest fear is, you know, going or being on holiday or away somewhere and the book running out and not having another one – written in the English language’. (FG1, P1, p.12) ‘My absolute fear is not being able to read for some reason’. (FG2, P3, p.17) ‘I can’t imagine a life without reading. Without books’. (FG2, P2, p.17) ‘How can you have lived – how can you say you have lived if you’ve never read a book?!’ (FG3, P4, p.18) • Compared to Food ‘It’s like having a good dinner, feeling satisfied’. (FG1, P2, p.13) • Compared to Love ‘It’s a bit like falling in love’. (FG1, P2, p.15)

119 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Positive aspects • Enjoyment & pleasure (dominant emotional response) ‘I mean reading is fun, primarily reading fiction.’ (FG2, P3, p.2) ‘It’s one of life’s pleasures – sitting reading.’ (FG3, P1, p.5) • Empathy through identification / recognition (e.g. with a character, situation etc.) ‘… it’s the characters as well… you have to kind of engage with them – you feel like – like you do want to be friends with them or whatever.’ (PFG, P3, p.9) ‘… it can kind of promote empathy… fiction encourages you to identify with the characters.’ (PFG, P2, p.16) ‘And when you read a book, it’s like taking on a set of friends.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) ‘Well, it feels like you’ve made friends. I often think of people in books I’ve read as real, close personal friends.’ (FG1, P2, p.12) ‘Because you identify with the characters in fiction. There’s also a bit in the character that’s sort of you. Any book you read, you find a character, which you can identify with.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) ‘It’s quite interesting to recognise situations you yourself have been with other people or feeling … that someone is expressing a – a view of life that you’ve experienced yourself. To recognise something of yourself in – of your own life in fiction.’ (FG2, P1, p.1) ‘… it allows you to see things from someone else’s perspective. When it is written well, you can empathise with a character.’ (FG2, P4, p.1)

120 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Positive aspects • Empathy through identification / recognition (e.g. with a character, situation etc.) ‘You do actually get an affection for people in books, don’t you?’ (FG3, P2, p.15) ‘If you don’t i- identify with the people, I suppose that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? So I think if you identify, you really enjoy it.’ (FG3, P2, p.15) • Catharsis ‘… sometimes you read something that can be quite traumatic, but it can be quite cathartic and it can make you… appreciate the good things in your life, for example.’ (PFG, P3, p.6) ‘… a friend of mine basically said that reading and kind of reading sort of classic literature about kind of death and grief has helped her work through her grief when her mum died.’ (PFG, P2, p.6) ‘And then you sort of feel better, because you’ve read about them overcoming the problems. So you think, ‘well, perhaps, I can’.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) • Involvement ‘… you can get really involved in a story.’ (PFG, P3, p.3) ‘… I am really encouraged to read when I got a book that I started and it has really kind of gripped me.’ (PFG, P1, p.4) ‘… but a clear narrative of some form does help you to get involved.’ (PFG, P2, p.8)

121 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): • Involvement Positive aspects ‘You want that absorption, don’t you?’ (FG1, P1, p.13) ‘I’ve actually been so involved in books that when I finished them I feel almost tearful because it’s over. And I haven’t wanted it to end.’ (FG3, P1, p.14) ‘You become oblivious to what’s going on around you really.’ (FG3, P1, p.15) • Stress relief & relaxation ‘I think reading is the only time when I really relax.’ (PFG, P2, p.3) ‘I find it’s to do with stress relief. When I’m really stressed, I tend to read.’ (FG1, P7, p.11) • Distraction from problems / worries / depression ‘Because if you get really involved in a book, you stop thinking about your own problems.’ (FG1, P4, p.11) ‘Sometimes you’ll stop and – and the worrying thoughts might come and, ‘oh, they’re all gone now.’ (FG1, P4, p.11) ‘… and certainly for myself when I get depressed, I often read – read to get away from my situation and think about other things.’ (FG2, P1, p.2) ‘They can lift your spirit if they’re good (?).’ (FG3, P2, p.15) ‘And you’re not worrying about other things and you’re perhaps not worrying about things that you shouldn’t be worrying about.’ (FG3, P1, p.18) ‘If you can throw yourself into a book and you’re living in that book, you’re not thinking about what’s happening any more.’ (FG3, P1, p.18)

122 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Positive aspects • Escapism ‘I would agree that it’s kind of … an escapism.’ (PFG, P3, p.3) ‘It’s escapism, isn’t it?’ (FG2, P3, p.1) ‘That’s [escapism] what I read for.’ (FG3, P2, p.18) ‘I think there is nothing wrong with a good chunk of escapism.’ (FG3, P1, p.18) ‘But I – I just find that it is an escape.’ (FG3, P2, p.20) • Prevents overeating & alleviates boredom ‘And the other thing everybody should never forget is how wonderful reading is for alleviating boredom, stuffing your face in a biscuit tin all the time.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) ‘If you’re involved in a book, you’re not bored.’ (FG3, P1, p.18) • Alternative to watching TV ‘I stop myself from sitting in front of the telly all the time.’ (PFG, p1, p.3) • Personal space ‘Just having something for myself where I don’t particularly have to interact with anybody else or share my opinion … going along.’ (FG2, P5, p.4) ‘… the actual kind of reading experience, I think, I value very much on my own at home. Sort of to escape from a busy life really.’ (FG2, P5, p.10)

123 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Positive aspects • Intellectual stimulation / challenge ‘Reading does have – depending on what you are reading – it does have and aspect of intellectual stimulation that you might not get from the TV… do.’ (PFG, P2, p.3) ‘Oh, it makes me think, definitely.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) ‘And keeping your brain active, especially as you’re getting older, is very very important.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) ‘… reading is a little bit more challenging.’ (FG2, P4, p.2) ‘I think really it’s also stimulating, isn’t it? If you pick the right material, it’s also intellectually stimulating. You make, you know, it demands quite a lot of you.’ (FG2, P3, p.3) ‘…there is nothing like keeping your brain going.’ (FG3, P1, p.3) ‘I always read… it for the challenge.’ (FG3, P2, p.15) • Learning / expanding horizons / changes in attitude ‘… I feel that it’s books really that expand my horizons.’ (PFG, P2, p.14) ‘… if you read about members of a particular group, it actually changes your attitudes.’ (PFG, P2, p.16) ‘And this is what I think reading books gave me. Because so often… it’s so difficult to actually have any kind of sense of understanding of how all the millions of different types of people who are in the world live their lives.’ (PFG, P2, p.16) ‘…going to another time, another place. Something that you have not experienced.’ (FG2, P2, p.1)

124 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): • Learning / expanding horizons / changes in attitude Positive aspects ‘The knowledge about some things.’ (FG3, P4, p.15) ‘… it leads me into lives of people that are quite different from mine.’ (FG3, P2, p.20) • Life transforming ‘And there are always books that – throughout your life, somehow they are up there and they stand out.’ (FG1, P1, p.15) ‘… or it – it’s just – transformed your life.’ (FG3, P2, p.15) • Active imagination ‘It is the book that you’re interacting with your imagination.’ (FG1, P4, p.14) ‘… I think it is this whole thing about your imagination and you – you’re not describing the character, but you very much have your own image.’ (FG1, P1, p.14) ‘Imagine other words. They will be different for different people.’ (FG2, P4, p.3) • Participatory / creative / interactive experience ‘It’s what you bring to it as well. It’s not just what the author brings to you.’ (FG1, P4, p.14) ‘I think reading is more interactive than watching TV… you’re projecting your own ideas onto it a bit and you’re imagining what someone looks like… that’s why I think it’s more engaging.’ (FG2, P4, p.2) ‘Yeah, it’s very interactive. I think you have to – you have to engage with it.’ (FG2, P4, p.3)

125 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Negative aspects • Unpleasant reading experience (traumatic content, book not liked etc.) ‘I find if the book that I’m reading isn’t good I will – I will do other things instead of reading.’ (PFG, P3, p.5) ‘If I read something, which has got some – some really traumatic emotional experience in … it would really get to me and then I won’t get any of the kind of positive reading experiences at all. I get really upset.’ (PFG, P2, p.5) Times / occasions • All the time / any time one could get except when doing academic work ‘All the time. Except sometimes when I’m reading a lot for academic work… if I’m doing something else that doesn’t kind of have an intellectual component, I nearly always try and read while I’m doing it.’ (PFG, P2, p.4) ‘I had to do so much reading at university that I could – I stopped reading fiction.’ (FG1, P5, p.10) ‘… sometimes in the morning when you don’t have to go and dash out.’ (FG1, P4, p.11) ‘Anywhere where I’ve got time.’ (FG3, P4, p.13) ‘I give myself little breaks in doing the household, you know. An hour of this is jolly good.’ (FG3, P2, p.13) • In bed / before going to sleep ‘I read every night before bed, but that was always the habit I’ve always had.’ (FG1, P5, p.9)

126 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Times / occasions • On holidays ‘Or the pleasure on holiday… And you pick up a book…that is the absolute, ultimate luxury.’ (FG1, P1, p.12) ‘The other thing I found is when I go away on holiday I do read a lot of books.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) • When travelling / commuting ‘And I spent a lot of time at the airport waiting for planes recently and there is no way I could have done it without a really good book.’ (PFG, P3, p.3) ‘…if you take the bus to work for twenty minutes… a certain type of book you can do that with.’ (FG2, P4, p.3) ‘I always carry a book with me wherever I go. I always carry a book.’ (FG2, P3, p.18) ‘I was reading a book on the bus.’ (FG3, P4, p.14) ‘See, I’ve got a magazine and I’ve got my book… there.’ (FG3, P2, p.18) Personal aspect • Different responses from different people ‘I think every individual is always going to have their own particular perception of what characters and settings and places look like.’ (PFG, P1, p.10) ‘But we, you know, don’t have the same response to books.’ (PFG, P3, p.10) ‘Sometimes you feel as if you’ve read a different book from some of the others.’ (FG1, P4, p.2)

127 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Personal aspect • Different responses from different people ‘But I think that sometimes there is a style that doesn’t appeal… and I’ve seriously wondered if people have read the same book as me.’ (FG3, P3, p.16) • Mood-dependent ‘And it can be dependent on your mood, you know.’ (FG1, P1, p.9) ‘If my brain’s feeling a bit tired, then I might read the chick lit or something very fluffy. But if you feel a bit more energised, then you might read something a bit more taxing.’ (FG1, P5, p.10) ‘I think one of the difficulties about reading is that it depends on your mood.’ (FG2, P3, p.4) • Different responses at different times in your life ‘I guess maybe it depends on what else is going on in your life as well… A friend of mine told me about a book that she stopped reading because it upset her so much… and a few months or years later… she started the book again… and got all the way kind of through to the end without it upsetting her at all.’ (PFG, P3, p.6) ‘But sometimes it’s to do as well with when you read a book.’ (FG1, P3, p.16) ‘And also I think your life experience gives you a completely different perspective of it. If you read something as a child, it’s probably – you’re reading it in a much more innocent way.’ (FG1, P1, p.17)

128 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): • Different responses at different times in your life Personal aspect ‘I remember I read Of Human Bondage when I was in my early twenties and I thought it was absolutely wonderful. And I tried to read it again recently and struggled with it.’ (FG3, P2, p.16) ‘I think it just hits a – it hits something at that particular time.’ (FG3, P3, p.17) ‘I remember reading a Margaret Drabble book when I was away at college. … And I was thinking ‘that’s just how I feel’. So now if I read it, I think, ‘oh goodness.’’ (FG3, P4, p.17) • Context-dependent ‘If something is going on in your life and you really think ‘I really can’t face – face it’. Something with murder or rape in it. You know. Or whatever it is.’ (FG1, P1, p.9) Special nature of fiction reading • Narrative aspect / story quality ‘It’s – it’s a story really, I guess.’ (PFG, P2, p.7) ‘The narrative aspect. Which obviously you – well, you get in the majority of fiction.’ (PFG, P3, p.7) ‘I think one or two of the novels that we’ve had, have been really well- crafted… you sometimes appreciate that it’s well-done.’ (FG3, P3, p.16) ‘… with a novel, I would usually read it sequentially, chronologically. And sort of take it as a whole.’ (FG3, P3, p.19) ‘Perhaps I like a good story and that, I think.’ (FG3, P2, p.19) ‘I think it’s part of human nature, isn’t it? I mean children love having stories read to them…they want story.’ (FG3, P1, p.20)

129 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Experience (RE): Special nature of fiction reading • Characters ‘… but I think it’s not – it’s not just kind of the story, it’s the characters as well.’ (PFG, P3, p.9) ‘Because you identify with the characters in fiction.’ (FG1, P2, p.13) ‘But you can just get involved in the characters.’ (FG2, P3, p.2) • Flow ‘… because you can get really involved in a story.’ (PFG, P3, p.3) ‘You want that absorption, don’t you?’ (FG1, P1, p.13) ‘I’ve actually been so involved in books that when I finished them I feel almost tearful because it’s over.’ (FG3, P1, p.14) • Constructive / creative element ‘It’s the book that you’re interacting with your imagination. It’s what you bring to it as well.’ (FG1, P4, p.14) ‘… you’re not describing the character, but you very much have your own image.’ (FG1, P1, p.14) ‘I think reading is more interactive than watching TV… you’re projecting your own ideas onto it a bit… it’s more engaging.’ (FG2, P4, p.2) ‘But with the book I can interpret it entirely my own way.’ (FG2, P5, p.4)

130 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Social aspect: meet people / share an interest (without pressure) ‘And books are a good way to bond with people, I suppose.’ (PFG, P3, p.11) ‘I think – I think there is also just the social element in that it’s a way of meeting a group of people who you have – you will have at least one interest in common with.’ (PFG, P2, p.11) ‘Oh, we always have great fun at the book club. That is – it’s got to be fun… as well as reading the book, I come for the people and to have a bloody good laugh.’ (FG1, P2, p.1) ‘And there’s no pressure. If you don’t enjoy it, you can just stop.’ (FG1, P6, p.3) ‘As a group, we never mind if somebody hasn’t read it.’ (FG1, P4, p.7) ‘Oh, you always enjoy the meetings, P9. Yes. Very much so. So do I. Whether I’ve read the book or not.’ (FG1, P2, p.9) ‘I’d never not come because I haven’t read it.’ (FG1, P4, p.9) ‘You haven’t got to read the book. It isn’t like, you – you can’t stay at the meeting because you haven’t read the book.’ (FG1, P2, p.9) ‘It takes away the isolation.’ (FG3, P1, p.1) • Opportunity to talk about reading ‘I think it can be nice to have someone to talk to about what you’ve read who has also read the book.’ (PFG, P3, p.11) ‘We had a marvellous discussion about it.’ (FG1, P2, p.1)

131 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): • Opportunity to talk about reading Positive aspects ‘Knowing that other people have read exactly the same lines as you, laughed at the same things as you, cried at the same things as you.’ (FG1, P2, p.2) ‘But with a book group, you have got somewhere to come and discuss it, and all that book becomes alive again.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) ‘We come together to discuss it. I mean that’s – that’s lovely, you know.’ • More persistent and thoughtful reading ‘… it makes you – challenges you a bit more in the sense that if you don’t like it you got to think about it why you don’t like it.’ (FG2, P3, p.5-6) ‘… I always plod (?) on right to the end… when you are going to discuss it with other people you tend to push yourself and finish it.’ (FG3, P3, p.2) ‘… but I think sometimes with a book, if I might find it a bit boring, I… won’t bother and just pick up another one. But when I come to this, I think ‘I really should’, you know, and I make the effort to try and read as much as I possibly can.’ (FG3, P1, p.2) • Different views and opinions ‘…books… lend themselves so much to lots of different interpretations. And in many ways kind of, the better the book, the more possible ways you can interpret it and you can get out of it.’ (PFG, P2, p.12) ‘It makes you look at it differently.’ (FG1, P4, p.2) ‘… it’s really good to hear other people’s opinions.’ (FG1, P3, p.2) ‘So that sets you up on a different tack, thinking differently about it.’ (FG1, P2, p.4)

132 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Different views and opinions ‘Sometimes you miss – we miss things and somebody else will point something out.’ (FG1, P3, p.4) ‘Well, we discussed it. You haven’t read it yet. You say, ‘This is making me want to read it’. I remember very distinctly you saying that.’ (FG1, P2, p.7) ‘You get a better (?) discussion when it’s more of a split.’ (FG1, P1, p.8) ‘But I want to come and hear what they’re saying about it. Because I know very well that that is just my prejudice or my impatience. It’s still interesting to hear their point of view.’ (FG1, P9, p.8) ‘… quite often other people see things in a book that I haven’t. And there have been some books I haven’t liked. But by the time we discussed it… you can actually see a few positives in it.’ (FG2, P5, p.10) ‘I think people challenge it, don’t you think? I mean the last – okay, half of us hated it and half of us really liked it. So that was quite interesting.’ (FG2, P3, p.11) ‘Trying to convince you and all. Because people are trying to convince you why – why they like it.’ (FG2, P5, p.12) ‘The most interesting discussions come where people haven’t enjoyed the book… But if it’s something that half of the group didn’t like and half of the group did, then you get a really interesting discussion.’ (FG2, P2, p.12)

133 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Different views and opinions ‘A different interpretation. Perhaps – perhaps I have misread – not misread it, but misinterpreted it, you know, there is another point of view then.’ (FG2, P5, p.17) ‘And it’s just interesting to come and find somebody in the same group who’s got something entirely different from the same book – whose ideas are directly opposite from yours, who’s got a suggestion as to what’s gone on in the book that had never occurred to you.’ (FG3, P1, p.1) ‘… because it changes your perspective on the way that you look at things possibly thereafter. You can kind of possibly see other things in other books that make you think.’ (FG3, P1, p.1) ‘And then obviously, it’s much more interesting when people do have different views on it.’ (FG3, P1, p.11) ‘It’s really that because you’re sitting there thinking, ‘well, P? said that, maybe I should have read it in a different way’.’ (FG3, P1, p.11) ‘You start thinking. Yes, it’s very good for you.’ (FG3, P1, p.11) • Discussion extends to a theme (raised in book  general level) ‘I mean there have been a lot of occasions where we’ve started off talking about the book and the discussion has veered off – into other areas. But it’s all come from the book.’ (FG2, P2, p.10-11)

134 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Learning from other members’ contributions ‘We read… a book that was quite critical about the position of women in the Middle East and one reading group member who had lived in the Middle East sort of really disagreed with it and forcefully put another viewpoint. And that was a learning experience, which was also enjoyable ‘cause it was interesting.’ (PFG, P2, p.14) ‘… I can think of similar experiences that other people talked to me about when they’ve said that they learned from the participants in the group.’ (PFG, P3, p.14) ‘Sometimes you miss – we miss things and somebody else will point something out.’ (FG1, P3, p.4) ‘And there might be specialist subjects…other people might rejuvenate other contexts to it. And you understand it more.’ (FG1, P7, p.5) ‘…because my parents grew up in India… I obviously hadn’t had that experience. So it was great to get that kind of additional background to that time period.’ (FG1, P8, p.5) • Positive feelings about the reading group before and after a meeting ‘Yeah, I always go away feeling quite happy.’ (FG2, P4, p.17) ‘Yeah. It’s special. We look forward to it.’ (FG2, P3, p.17) ‘It’s something that I wouldn’t miss unless I had to…make every effort to get here if I could. You know. I value it.’ (FG2, P2, p.17)

135 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Different reading material  enlarges reading habits ‘… one of the things about reading group experience is that it can encourage people to read different things that they wouldn’t have picked up… the reading group can challenge you to read different things.’ (PFG, P3, p.15) ‘It definitely encourages you to read what you normally don’t read.’ (FG1, P6, p.2) ‘… sometimes… somebody will say, ‘oh well, so and so writes like that’, so you sort of go out, not just with other titles of books, but with other authors’ names and somehow… you might be in the library or the bookshop and you will see and think ‘oh, so and so said’, you know. It – it’s – it does widen definitely what you read.’ ‘Oh, you definitely experience books you wouldn’t normally experience.’ (FG1, P2, p.4) ‘… it maybe makes me read things that I would normally not have read.’ (FG1, P6, p.6) ‘I’ve read far more – a different range of things since I started coming to book group, which is interesting.’ (FG2, P3, p.5) ‘It does make you think.’ (FG2, P4, p.9) ‘Broaden your horizons a bit more.’ (FG2, P2, p.9) ‘One of the reasons I joined the book group is because I thought it would be [inaudible] discussing books, which I normally not really like to read (?).’ (FG2, P4, p.9)

136 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Positive aspects • Different reading material  enlarges reading habits ‘I thought, actually, you know, people suggest different titles and different authors… And you get a bit kind of stuck on the same track, you know.’ (FG2, P4, p.9) ‘It took (?) us to a different time and another place… to China in a different time. And how society was there. And what you knew about it and what you thought you knew and what you learned from perusing (?) the book.’ (FG2, P2, p.11) ‘That’s part of the pleasure. If somebody presents you with a book that you wouldn’t necessarily have chosen, you should have that (?).’ (FG2, P2, p.13) ‘…I think the best thing about the reading group is that it makes you read something that you possibly might not read otherwise.’ (FG3, P3, p.2) ‘You’re going out of your comfort zone and you’re actually trying to do something that is a bit different.’ (FG3, P1, p.3) ‘And things like this make you get out of the rut.’ (FG3, P1, p.3) ‘And – and I think sometimes this does actually focus your mind on certain things and helps you with a little bit of what you like and a little bit of what you don’t like. And you can channel it a bit easier, I think.’ (FG3, P3, p.3)

137 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): • Particular reading preference not shared by others / too personal Negative aspects ‘But … if you all read the same book and you really love it and somebody else in the reading group really hates it… it can feel quite personal.’ (PFG, P2, p.11) ‘But my mum was in a reading group and she ended up not going any more in the end because she always disagreed very much with what everybody else said.’ (PFG, P2, p.12) ‘I was embarrassed about a book.’ (PFG, P1, p.13) ‘Yeah, I’d say, there are probably things I’ve read that I related to personally and I know other people wouldn’t necessarily relate to that personally in the same kind of way and I wouldn’t necessarily want to discuss it – with people, because you couldn’t really talk about how much it meant to you.’ (PFG, P3, p.19) ‘… if you’re in a group where somebody recommends the book and the book is chosen and then a certain number of the group don’t like it, then they will blame the person who chose it.’ (FG1, P1, p.8) ‘Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. And I absolutely loved that and I wouldn’t entertain sitting down hearing anybody else’s view about it. I do not want to know what anybody else thinks about it.’ (FG3, P3, p.6) ‘Or it’s such a perfect experience. You don’t want anybody to – spoil that.’ (FG3, P4, p.7) ‘And it can be quite hurtful if they don’t like the book that you think is wonderful.’ (FG3, P2, p.7)

138 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Negative aspects • ‘Negative’ influence on reading / finishing a particular book ‘…I often get stuck halfway. And if then the rest of the group says ‘oh, you know, I got stuck toward the end’ and the review is a bit mixed, it will then make me think, ‘yeah, well, I’m not going to carry on.’ So I suppose that could be a bit of a negative thing.’ (FG1, P1, p.6) ‘But sometimes you kind of feel like you don’t wanna ruin the surprise half way through …’ – ‘It could spoil it for you a bit.’ (FG1, P8 & P2, p.7) • Compromise on other books ‘But also because there are so many books to choose and read from, you sort of think, ‘well, yeah, that one – I’m not gonna waste [inaudible], you know.’ (FG1, P1, p.6) ‘… I’ve got so many books that I want to read and sometimes, I – you – you know, you sort of compromise on other books because you think, ‘well, I need to read this one’.’ (FG1, P6, p.6) ‘But then I know there are other books waiting there that I want to read and I’m thinking ‘no’. …I find it frustrating because I have got a pile of books like this and I’m thinking ‘How am I gonna get time to read those if I am struggling through this one?’ (FG3, P4, p.4) • Group dynamics ‘As P2 said, we’re going to another reading group … and P2 and I could name three people who we know will speak for twenty minutes each and the rest of us know that – that you’re about to say something and you can’t.’ (FG3, P3, p.9)

139 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Negative aspects • Time pressure ‘And – and having time as well.’ (FG1, P6, p.6) ‘It can inadvertently create a pressure though.. Yeah, time.’ (FG1, P1, p.6) ‘The discussion is not the same if you haven’t read it.’ (FG1, P2, p.7) ‘… I just didn’t have the time.’ (FG3, P4, p.4) ‘I think time is sometimes a negative because you’ve got to read it. … You [inaudible] yourself to read so many pages a day and then do it that way.’ (FG3, P3, p.4) • Disparate approaches to reading, e.g. very critical / academic approach disliked ‘… I think of one person in particular who is very critical about the way the book is written. And you know that the grammar is correct, the language is correct. And I just think, ‘just read the story’. You know. ‘Just read it. Forget about grammar.’ (FG2, P2, p.13) ‘And just occasionally you might get a number of people who were quite intellectual in their approach. That can be a bit frustrating if they are talking about the way that the – the words are put together. You know, the style and so on. The structure… Some of them have done an advanced degree course’ (FG3, P2, p.4-5)

140 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): Negative aspects • Dislike of book9 ‘… ‘I’m just not going to waste my time, because I have better things to do.’’ (FG3, P4, p.2) ‘Some- Sometimes if I am struggling – like I was struggling with that last one – and I’m thinking, ‘I will… I got to really – I will somehow get to the end of this.’’ (FG3, P4, p.4) • Lack of men ‘The only think I could say is that it’s a pity we don’t have any men. We did have one gentleman. But it seems to be the thing, reading groups are all – are nearly all women.’ (FG3, P1, p.21) A good read’ for RGs • Difficult to say / generalise ‘I think it depends on what the people in the group want to read in a way… you have to have some kind of consensus.’ (PFG, P3, p.16) ‘I think it’s so – I think reading is so personal, I think it’s difficult to say really.’ (FG2, P3, p.12) • Variety of texts (e.g. different genres over time) ‘I think one of the characteristics of a good reading group is that kind of variety and encouraging people to try something that is out of their comfort zone. But varied as well… you want to have a bit of a mixture.’ (PFG, P3, p.17)

9 However, this seemed to be a minority view. Mostly people enjoyed coming to the reading group and taking part in a discussion even if they hadn’t liked the book.

141 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Reading Groups (RGs): A good read’ for RGs • Discussability (e.g. a text that triggers a variety of views) ‘I think some books lend themselves better to discussions than others.’ (PFG, P3, p.18) ‘You get a better (?) discussion when it’s more of a split.’ – ‘Oh, you get a better one.’ (FG1, P1 & P2, p.8) ‘The most interesting discussions come where people haven’t enjoyed the book… But if it’s something that half of the group didn’t like and half of the group did, then you get a really interesting discussion.’ (FG2, P2, p.12) ‘But often if you – if everybody hasn’t really liked it, there is more to talk about maybe than if everyone says ‘oh, it’s a really good book.’ (FG3, P2, p.11) ‘We might not have liked them as books, but we probably had more to say about them than we had with some of the more straightforward ones.’ (FG3, P3, p.11) ‘I think you probably have more to say about something you don’t like than something you do like.’ (FG3, P4, p.11) Library Environment (LE): Library as setting for RGs • Inclusive ‘… there’s nothing to stop anybody from coming to this group.’ (FG1, P1, p.18)

142 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Library Environment (LE): Library as setting for RGs • If enough space is available / nice space ‘Only if it’s upstairs and if it’s private like this. It wouldn’t work in the main library. We just couldn’t do it. You distract too many people. As long as you’ve got a space like this. I love this table. I love how everybody sat around so I can see everybody and relate to everybody when I’m talking. I think this really works because we’ve got facilities upstairs.’ (FG1, P2, p.17) ‘Oh yes, it is perfect.’ (FG3, P1, p.21) ‘And it’s a nice space, isn’t it, really for us to have?’ (FG3, P2, p.22) • Facilitation ‘The library facilitates it very well.’ (FG1, P4, p.18) • Meeting new people ‘I have a friend who’s in another reading group and they all go to each others’ houses. So they are all friends or friends of friends in a similar group. The nice thing about this is we meet people who we wouldn’t normally meet.’ (FG1, P4, p.19) • Reading material handed out for free ‘And as well, we don’t pay for any of the books.’ (FG1, P5, p.17) ‘… some books we had that I wouldn’t have paid for it (?).’ (FG1, P4, p.18) ‘I think that is a factor though…Buying a book at that price is quite a luxury.’ (FG1, P1, p.18) ‘… this is good because we are given the book.’ (FG3, P2, p.21)

143 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Library Environment (LE): • Immediate access to books Library as setting for RGs ‘Plus, I think, if suddenly – suddenly somebody says, ‘so and so is a good writer’ and you’re in the library, you will go and look. And it – it’s there, you know.’ (FG1, P1, p.19) ‘… I can get books out before I come to it and – and take books back when I arrive. It’s – it’s very handy.’ (FG3, P3, p.21) • Logistics (Central Library generally easy to get to) ‘Well, there is a bus out (?).’ ‘I can use my bus pass to get into town so I don’t worry about parking or anything else.’ (FG3, P1 & P3, p.21) • Neutral space / non-competitive ‘There’s nothing competitive about it. It’s a level playing field basically’ (FG1, P1, p.19) • Refreshments ‘… and we also get refreshments.’ (FG3, P2, p.21) • Invitations to other reading events ‘And they do other events attached to where we get invited to.’ ‘And the ‘Off the Shelf’ thing.’ ‘The Orange Prize for Fiction.’ ‘We’ve had authors come in.’ ‘We’ve had authors come in to visit, which was interesting. You have the author right there when you’re talking about their books.’ (FG1, P5 & P1, p.18-19) ‘One particularly positive thing is the kind of reader, writer or author events [inaudible] lovely. When authors come and talk to us… I like – that’s really interesting because you get together with other reading groups.’ (FG2, P2, p.14)

144 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Library Environment (LE): • Invitations to other reading events Library as setting for RGs ‘Yeah, to promote reading that we’re interested in.’ (FG2, P4, p.15) Librarian’s role in RD • Personal advice on reading not necessarily wanted ‘If they want advice, then I think so. But I think the beauty of the library is that you can go in, you can browse.’ (FG2, P4, p.6) ‘I very rarely ask for advice because …and I thought , ‘that’s no help’. … I think it’s very difficult for someone else to see what you could actually enjoy.’ (FG2, P1, p.7) ‘No, you got the chance to browse, you got the chance to go (?) through. I mean it would be nice if – if, you knew, you know [inaudible] your librarian and they say ‘oh, this is coming and you might quite like it.’ That would be very nice.’ (FG2, P1, p.8) ‘Not unless somebody really wants to. If somebody for example says ‘I haven’t read for years’ and they want them to suggest. I think I wrote on my questionnaire ‘I’m an adult, I’m not a child any more.’ (FG3, P1, p.22) ‘I think it’s quite nice if they actually say to us very very occasionally – someone said ‘oh, yes, I enjoyed so and so.’ It makes you – it is just positive. (FG3, P2, p.22) Library & stock / reading material • More reading (free books) ‘I read far more because I’m in the library. I never wanted to put in my house all the books that I read or pay for them all. So I know the library is really an important part of my life because… I read hundreds of more books, because they are all there.’ (FG2, P1, p.5) ‘The ones that I will get out of the library that I wouldn’t buy.’ (FG2, P5)

145 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Library Environment (LE): Library & stock / reading material • More reading (free books) ‘The ones that I will get out of the library that I wouldn’t buy.’ (FG2, P5, p.7) ‘I would say ninety-nine percent of the books I read are from the library and they go back to the library.’ (FG2, P1, p.7) • Shared ownership valued10 ‘I like the idea of – of me reading it and someone else reading it. I like the idea of shared ownership… They’re held in common with the whole of the community(?)… But I think I like the idea that there’s a common – commonly held pool. And that – ehm – yeah, I like the idea that someone else will read this book – someone else will read this book and it’s – it’s something we’ll share.’ (FG2, P1, p.5) • Great range of stock generally wanted11 ‘I think it’s a problem with – with small libraries actually…. When I come here, there are loads and loads and loads of books. I go to my local library, there is hardly anything there.’ (FG2, P3, p.9) Library as place • Spend quality time there ‘You can sit, you can take the book and you can sit there.’ (FG2, P4, p.6)

10 However, sometimes people preferred to own their own copy of a book. 11 At the same time, the difficulty of choosing reading material amongst a great range of stock was mentioned.

146 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Other Issues (OI): Choice of reading material • Through recommendations (i.e. personal & notes / messages / alerts) ‘Because quite frequently now we’ll have ‘If you liked this book, you might like to read so and so and so and so.’ And I think, ‘well, yes, I might give that a try and see if I do like it.’ (FG3, P3, p.3) • Preferences for Classics, modern fiction & fiction series ‘I have a leaning towards the Classics.’ (FG3, P2, p.12) ‘I like more modern, up-to-date things because it’s – it’s a way of also keeping up with current trends in – in popular literature.’ (FG3, P4, p.12) ‘And that’s why it’s sometimes quite nice to read books where the same characters appear in a series because in the development you sort of see what’s happened to them next.’ (FG3, P1, p.15) • Stories set in a place one goes to visit ‘If we’re going somewhere quite different I often try and find a book – eh – about the country we’re going to… It – it enhances your experience and you probably understand the book a little bit more.’ (FG3, P1, p.17) Being read to • Not liked as a substitute for reading on one’s own (e.g. audio books) ‘… And she had the talking books and things, but she thought that they were good, but it’s not the same story hearing it in bed last night and – the voices – she said this is the best – it’s a good second best. But it’s not – it’s not the same.’ (FG2, P5, p.17-18) • Seen as different in kind to reading oneself (pace, voice etc. are given) ‘… different interpretation.’ (FG2, P3?, p.17)

147 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Other Issues (OI): Being read to • Seen as different in kind to reading oneself (pace, voice etc. are given) ‘The voices.’ (FG2, P5, p.17) ‘The pace and everything.’ (FG2, P3, p.18) ‘Because you can’t make the characters.’(FG2, P5, p.18)

Facilitation of group • Active facilitation appreciated (i.e. some structure, probes, preparation by facilitator) ‘And she is the youngest and she’s actually the most structured because she has always read the book. She’s always got notes. And I find it actually interesting because she is so much younger than the rest of us. She’s got a dif- a very different perspective. And a different contribution to make. I do think that the interaction between the group and the group leader actually does make a difference.’ (FG3, P3, p.9) ‘I – I think it’s good that L has this structure. She – she always steps in if it’s quiet.’ ‘Yes. … She looked up – she makes requests on the Internet, but.’ ‘We’ve had others where we perhaps talked for ten, fifteen minutes and then we talked about anything.’ (FG3, P2 & P3, p.10) Nature of the group • Like-minded approach important ‘But I think we’ve settled in quite well in this group, haven’t we? We’re fairly likeminded in our approach to reading so.’ (FG3, P2, p.5)

148 Categories Findings / Supporting Evidence Other Issues (OI): Nature of the group • Respect for each others’ opinions ‘And by and large people have got sort of like – a tennis approach to allow one person to say something and then somebody else will say and then – it’s kind of like a courtesy.’ (FG3, P3, p.9) ‘I th – I think in this group we actually respect each other’s opinions.’ (FG3, P4?, p.9) • Should not be too big ‘I wouldn’t have thought that would work, that size… eight or nine of us. And for everybody to say something about.’ (FG3, P4, p.10)

149 Bibliography

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