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Social Agenda

Encouraging book group participation in harder-to-reach people and places

Social Agenda

Encouraging book group participation in harder-to-reach people and places

Our social agenda is about creating social justice. To do this, we are committed to promoting literacy and a love of books within sectors of the community currently under-represented within book groups. We value:

Diversity

We encourage participation of all peoples and individuals in book groups

Community

We encourage people to reduce their social isolation and feel part of their community.

Therefore we prioritise and subsidise book group initiatives for the following groups: 

Libraries

10 books/year

Are you a librarian who'd like to borrow our resources to run book clubs in your library?

$82 per member | free for organisers

Prisons

10 books/year

Are you a volunteer who'd like to set up a book group in a prison?

$125 per group | no fees

Schools

5 books/first half of the year

Are you a teacher or school librarian who'd like to set up a book group for students?

$200 per group (7 or less) | $20 for organiser

ESOL and migrant communities

10 books/year

Are you a volunteer interested in helping establish a fun, informal ESOL book group for migrants where they can chat in English and learn more about New Zealand life?

$15 per member | free for organisers

Māori groups

We would like to partner with organisations, iwi and rōpu working with tangata whenua to offer our resources and learn how we can better deliver the benefits of book groups to Māori.  
Please contact us if you’re interested in working with us.

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Men's groups

Did you know that just 18 of BDS's 1,302 book groups around New Zealand are comprised of men only? That's less than 1.5%. While we do have male members as part of mixed groups, our all-male book group members are clear about the benefits of book club for blokes:

"Conversations start with the book and end up with the men talking about their lives, which is something men don't tend to do"

If you’d like to help us get more men reading, meeting and connecting, we’d love to hear from you. If you are an organisation or individual that works with men, get in touch today.

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Rural groups

We recognise that our rural communities are at greater risk of isolation. Book groups are an excellent way to maintain regular social contact between community members, as well as promote discussion and engagement with societal issues. There is no extra delivery fee for groups in rural locations. 
Most rural groups join our full programme due to the regular reading and socialising routine it provides. Get started now or contact us for more information. 

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Get in touch, we love hearing from you

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