Somerset Council libraries are looking for volunteers to help support this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, ‘Ready, Set, Read!’. 

The challenge, which runs across all Somerset libraries, aims to encourage children to read six books during the summer holidays, while also engaging in a host of fun events and activities, online or at their local library. 

In 2022, a total of 6595 children participated in the challenge and now Somerset libraries are looking for volunteers, aged 14 and over, to help this year’s challenge become another great success.

Volunteering for the Summer Reading Challenge offers an incredible opportunity to develop experience working with adults and children, develop organisation and communication skills, give back to the local community, and to share and encourage the love of reading with others. 

Darren Smart, Somerset Council’s Strategic Manager for Library Services, said: “Volunteers this year could find themselves helping register children to the challenge, designing activities and events, creating displays, promoting the challenge on social media, or running storytelling events outdoors with staff.  

“This is an ideal opportunity for anyone who wants to share their love of reading and their local library and share their skills with the next generation.” 

To apply for one of these roles and find out more about the opportunity, please go to: https://volunteering.somerset.gov.uk/src/.

The closing date for applications is Friday, 30 June 2023. To find more volunteering opportunities within Somerset Council, go to https://assemblevolunteers.somerset.gov.uk/ or check out the new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/volunteeringatsomersetcouncil