Introduction

As a result of the success of the Reading Well Books on Prescription programme with the development of both the adult mental health and dementia schemes, The Reading Agency and the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) decided in 2015 to extend the programme to cater for young people. This was the first time a Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme had not focused primarily on an adult audience and the challenge of engaging young people in a reading for wellbeing programme was acknowledged.

The main challenge was presented by the fact that young people tend to engage less with reading-based activity than any other age group. Research shows that 44% of young people aged 16–24 do not read for pleasure (The Reading Agency, 2017) and many young people have negative attitudes to reading, with 28% of young people saying that they only read when they have to (Statista, 2017).

It was clear, however, that there was an evident need for a Books on Prescription-style intervention to support young people's mental health and wellbeing. The increasing challenges around young people's mental health and wellbeing have been well documented in the media in recent years and there are statistics that confirm these assertions. The Mental Health Foundation (2017) note that: 20% of adolescents may experience a mental health problem in any given year; 50% of mental health problems are established by the age of 14; and up to 70% of children and adolescents who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age. Contemporary pressures, such as widespread family breakdown, school exam stress, 24-hour social networking and an increase in bullying, have serious implications for the mental health of young people.

The need for this intervention for young people therefore outweighed the possible challenges that might be faced during development and delivery. This chapter outlines the measures that have been taken both in the development and delivery of the scheme that have ensured its success in engaging young people.

About Reading Well for young people

Reading Well for young people is the third strand of the Reading Well Books on Prescription programme, and is developed in partnership with The Reading Agency, the SCL and the Association for Senior Children's and Edu - cation Librarians (ASCEL).