Kazimiera came to Manchester three years ago from Poland with her three children, following her husband and their father, who was already working here. She began taking ESOL English lessons at Stockport College in order to improve her spoken and written English.

"It was my ESOL lecturer Joanne Shepherd, who is a great teacher, who encouraged us to read books," she explains. "Then the librarian Lynsey Smith told my class about the Six Book Challenge," says Kazimiera. "I thought it was a good idea, but I was a bit nervous, because I had read books before in English, but only elementary ones. I thought that I must start reading books at a more intermediate level. It was good for me, it motivated me."

"The first book was not easy," admits Kazimiera. "I had to keep looking new words up in an English dictionary. But bit by bit my grammar improved. When I am reading I want to relax. I read books that I thought I would enjoy, all romance books! My favourite book which I read for the Six Book Challenge was a romance book set in the Lake District -- this is an area that is very beautiful and I would love to visit it on holiday."

Kazimiera successfully completed the Six Book Challenge just before taking her English exams in June. "I was happy, but I have still continued to read books, because I like
reading," she says. "I am now more confident, and my English is improving. Doing the Six Book Challenge was really good preparation for the English reading and writing exams I have just taken. I think it was a really important exercise for everyone who did it."

Jackie explains: "I've been running the Challenge at HMP Low Newton this year alongside a reading group. I have found the women particularly enjoy reading books that feature heavily in the media. We were lucky enough to receive the Orange Prize shortlist and they proved very popular with the women writing about them in their Six Book Challenge diaries. We are currently reading books from Channel Four Summer Reads book club and we've also tried plays such as Pygmalion. Some of the women struggle with literacy and we find the right books for them. One lady likes trains. Another with poor concentration has enjoyed lots of the Quick Reads."

Governor Alan Richer has commented: "I am very pleased that Low Newton has won this award. The Six Book Challenge has been a real success in encouraging women offenders to read and express themselves. A lot of credit for creating such a positive enthusiasm for reading must go to the library staff and of course the readers themselves who have joined in so enthusiastically with the challenge".

And the prison library's work is also supported by Tamara Ross, Head of Learning and Skills: "I am thrilled that Low Newton has won this award. It recognises the positive relationships between staff and those we care for. The women involved have grown in confidence, motivation and knowledge thus demonstrating the importance of reading. "

"Reading is food for the brain," says Tom Wilson, director of unionlearn. "It is the key unlocking the door to a better world. Reading makes life more fun and more sociable; it helps people get on at work; it helps people understand the world and control their lives. That's why unions want to help working people become more confident readers and why we are glad to support The Reading Agency's Six Book Challenge."

Six Book Challenge at Work showcases use of the scheme at Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Warburtons in Stockton and Newburn, Tameside Council, Transport for London, Fabrick Housing Group in Middlesbrough and McVitie's in Stockport. Each case study demonstrates how the Challenge brings improved skills, communication and motivation to a workforce. The booklet also outlines how the Communication Workers Union are building on the Six Book Challenge to link reading and learning throughout the year with a range of practical approaches.

The Reading Agency is signing a Memorandum of Understanding with unionlearn at today's conference. "It's always brilliant when you find someone who really 'gets' and supports your work. Working with unionlearn has been like that," says Miranda McKearney, director of The Reading Agency.

This year The Reading Agency has worked with the Campaign for Learning and Transworld Publishers to provide a prize draw to workplaces running both the Six Book Challenge and Learning at Work Day activities. Winner Royal Bolton Hospital will be provided with a visit from top US crimewriter Tess Gerritsen at an event for staff in August.

Here are the links to the relevant forms:

Public libraries running the Six Book Challenge

Learning providers running the Six Book Challenge

Prisons and YOIs running the Six Book Challenge

Workplaces running the Six Book Challenge

Tutors - for views from individual tutors whose learners have taken part in the Challenge

And do also encourage your Challenge participants to complete the post-Challenge survey - follow this link or email us for a printable version. We'd be delighted if you have time to upload information from participants' printed forms. If you do so, here's some guidance if it proves difficult to fill in more than one form -
Open Internet Explorer
Go to Tools
Then Internet Options
On the General Tab under Browsing History click the Delete button.
Then click Delete Cookies
When asked if you are sure click Yes
If you continue to have problems, please contact dean.redmond@readingagency.org.uk

• A national prize draw for Challenge completers within the main target audience to win an expenses-paid weekend trip to London. The prize, for the winner and a guest, includes two tickets to a West End show, overnight accommodation at a London hotel, travel expenses and spending money of £150.

• A national prize draw for prisons and YOIs where a minimum of 10 people have taken part in the Challenge. The prize will be an author visit for the winning institution.

• A national prize draw for workplaces offered in association with the Campaign for Learning and Transworld Publishers - see more. Please note change of entry requirement!

We also need to receive evaluation data from all library services, learning providers, prisons and workplaces who have been running the Six Book Challenge over the last few months by Wednesday 7 July Please see links to the relevant forms. All those who meet this deadline will be entered into a prize draw for new books received from publishers through our Reading Partners scheme. We will also be chasing you by telephone! It's so important to get this data so that we can feed key headlines back to you to support your case for running the Six Book Challenge again next year.

The first Suffolk County Council employee to have completed their Six Book Challenge is Christine Hancock, Commissioner for Adult Services. Christine completed her challenge by reading a wide selection from the Quick Reads books and rated her enjoyment of taking part as 5 out of 5. She said "I wanted to do this as I'm very keen to encourage my grandchildren with their reading. I hope they will join in with the Summer Reading Challenge this year, so it's important that they see me reading too."

Christine explains: "When I came to sign up I saw the display of Quick Reads - I was really impressed with their variety and as I'm so busy I thought they would be ideal. They are also in a good format for anyone with dyslexia which has relevance for me. The Traitor in the Tower was a fascinating insight - it was so easy to order a beheading in England back then! Dragons' Den made me think about different styles of leadership and communication. The Perfect Murder has an excellent plot and a good ending that I didn't see coming. 101 Ways to get Your Child to Read had some excellent ideas on how to support and encourage both of my grandchildren. Doing the Six Book Challenge has challenged me to read more and I will try to keep the momentum up."

Suffolk Reads co-ordinator Tracy Bose has also set up a Big Quick Read for the county using Bernardine Evaristo's Hello Mum building on the success of a similar exercise with John Boyne's The Dare in 2009. Bernardine is making a couple of visits to Suffolk and local people have recorded individual chapters of her book - see website for the latest news.

They decided to target a range of audience through existing partners - Brent Adult Community Education, the College of North West London, children's centres, Brent Homeless User Group and other smaller groups staff already had links with. Staff briefed tutors and agreed a timetable of visits to classes and learning centres so that Challenge participants can swap their books. The aim is to support 400 learners to complete the Challenge and to ask them to a celebration event in the library during Adult Learners' Week.

"It has been hard work and staff going out to classes have put in a lot of leg work.," says Adele Finch, Libraries Development Manager. "But to have 581 people take part in this Challenge, most of whom have never set foot in a library before and don't read regularly, makes it worth it."

The Reading Agency has created an ideas guide and a writing pack to support the new titles downloadable from the Quick Reads website or the Reading Agency website where you can also find resources to support all the Quick Reads published since 2006.

New for 2010, Quick Reads are available to download direct to computers, phones and e-readers as eBooks. With a range of features, including screen reader capability, this a great interactive way to enjoy the books. To celebrate World Book Day, Quick Reads is exclusively offering one title - The Thief by Ruth Rendell - as a free download (see below), for one week only from 4th March 2010.Find out more.

Introduced by Kilkenny Library Service in 2009, the Callenge ran in partnership with a number of local agencies including Word Aid, National Learning Network, TASK, Rehab Care, Moving On Programme, SOS, KEY, St. Johns Parents Group and culminated in an evening of entertainment with music by Mick Hanly, stories by Peter Sheridan and presentation of certificates to all participants. Kilkenny is the first library authority in Ireland to take part in the challenge and Challenge organiser Trish Nolan is hoping their experience will encourage others to take part. The Challenge 2010 is underway is KIlkenny and receiving great interest so far. Galway and Cavan have also signed up this year.

"I had no interest in reading until I took part in the Six Book Challenge and joined the library" (Josie, Moving On Project)

"I love reading now since joining the Six Book Challenge. It's great to turn off from everything and get lost in a book." (Melanie, Moving On Project)

"I never picked up a book before and never had a notion of it. Now, with the help of my tutor, I'm able to make out new words myself and understand them. I'm on my third book since January and the first book I read I had a good laugh all the way through." (Nick, Word Aid)

"There is a great deal of Six Book Challenge activity in the North West and having the NHS Trusts as part of it is a huge boost to us. It will work really well if we can get union learning reps in all these workplaces supporting and promoting the Challenge. I know some of the Trusts are having those meetings right now," David Kendall, project manager, The Reading Agency.

'This is going to be great for NHS staff. I've been really keen for us to get involved in the Challenge and am delighted that so many NHS Trusts have taken this opportunity to encourage more people into their libraries.' Shân Annis, NHS North West CPD and Partnerships Manager.

Tricia Hartley, Chief Executive, Campaign for Learning said, "Our research shows that people would rather work for an employer that offers learning opportunities than one which offers higher wages but few opportunities. Taking up the Six Book Challenge is a great way for organisations to show their commitment to learning and its staff and we are delighted to team up with The Reading Agency and Transworld Publishers to support this through Learning at Work Day 2010."

Download and complete this Six Book Challenge Learning at Work Day national prize draw entry form by Wednesday 30 June. In the meantime please get in touch with David Kendall if you'd like to know more about running the Six Book Challenge in the workplace or with Julia Wright the Campaign for Learning for more about Learning at Work Day on 20 May 2010.

"I used to read at school years ago but I didn't read at all until recently. I was definitely what you'd call a non-reader. I just read what I had to for work and that was it. I did the Six Book Challenge and haven't stopped reading since." Janet Boner, Alder Hey, NHS

The Six Book Challenge in the workplace is initiated, run and promoted by union learning reps from several different unions but all with the same commitment to introducing adults to reading for pleasure.

"We really want this to be a big success," says Tony Saunders, Saunders, union development co-ordinator in the North West. "The Six Book Challenge is a great motivator, and we see reading for pleasure as a key factor in people taking up learning opportunities inside and outside the workplace."

"Our stubborn national skills problems show we need new ways to tackle literacy issues," says Miranda McKearney, Director of The Reading Agency. "We launched the Six Book Challenge in 2008, and I wish we'd started it years ago! It's a deceptively simple, motivational scheme that has a tremendous impact on people's lives. We're urging libraries, adult learning providers and workplaces to the Challenge to mark the Festival of Learning in October."

More organisations got involved in 2009 and higher numbers have registered for the Challenge in many places. Highest scorers include Sheffield Libraries with 220, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust wtih 204, Middlesbrough 196, Kirklees 127, Westminster 121, West Sussex 109, Brent 108, Kilkenny 106 and Telford and Poole 100. Two-thirds of library participants were female and aged between 25 and 55. As a whole participants came from a wide variety of ethnic groups indicating that ESOL learners are finding the Six Book Challenge very useful.

The average completion rate is 40% but there are some notable exceptions of very high rates from Stockton, Worcester, East Berkshire College, Blackburn, South Tyneside and 100% from Haven Products in Glasgow, the Wirral, Gateshead, Enfield and Lambeth - congratulations to all concerned!

Data from libraries shows that they worked with a very wide range of partners in 2009 including mental health groups, parents' groups, probation serviceds, migrants' resource centres and Army barracks as well as colleges, adult education, prisons and workplaces. There was an increase in events linked to the Challenge and a doubling of reading group activity.

Few more stats

Link to research report on TRA pages

Mike's latest book, and his first work of non-fiction,The To-Do List, was published on 8 January 2009. On the eve of his 36th birthday, Mike picks up a pen and writes a To-Do list of all the things he has meant to do but never quite got round to. It's a long list. There's a lot of stuff that needs doing. But unlike previous lists, made and long abandoned, Mike promises himself that this one will actually get DONE.

See more about Mike on his website.