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We support adults who would like to improve their literacy and reading skills, and people who are not native English speakers. We have ‘Skills for Life’ collections housed at the following libraries:
- Bridgwater
- Burnham
- Chard
- Crewkerne
- Frome
- Glastonbury
- Minehead
- Priorswood
- Shepton Mallet
- Street
- Taunton
- Wellington
- Wells
- Williton
- Yeovil
However, the collections can be requested from any of our libraries. Speak to staff in your local library if you need help accessing this collection.
Skills for Life
These are book schemes for people who want to improve their reading skills or who are learning English. For details about this collection speak to staff at your local library.
- Graded Readers – Penguin, Cambridge and Oxford Bookworms – These schemes allow readers to work through a variety of levels from very basic to short novels. Some of these books also come with CDs.
- Gatehouse Readers – These books are written for adults with very limited literacy, or who speak very little English.
- Barrington Stoke / Sandstone – These books are for people with moderate literacy and are printed on yellow paper to assist those with dyslexia.
- Brinsford Books – Cars – These books range from quite simple to more advanced, useful for car fans who want to improve their literacy.
- Turning Pages – These books are used in conjunction with a tutor and a manual, for one to one support.
Quick reads
This is a series of short books by bestselling authors. There are normally 6 to 8 new titles added each year, including fiction and non-fiction. Look out for special stands in our libraries.
They are ideal for
- Anyone who enjoys reading but is short of time, for example, parents with young children, carers, people who work long hours
- People who have not been in the habit of reading, but who want to start reading again
- ‘Bus reads’ – a short read for a journey on public transport
- People who have difficulty holding heavy books or find it difficult to remember complex plots