Creative Reading - Demos report

Just spotted this at the Demos site although it was published at the end of June. Demos is based in the U.K. and "is an independent think tank with a strong interest in culture and creativity."

Creative Reading is a 70 page report by John Holden in conjunction with The Reading Agency which is a "UK wide development agency with roots in the public library sector. Its mission is to inspire a reading nation by working with libraries and their partners."

Here's a bit of the press release.

Public libraries are the ‘forgotten players’ in the creativity debate,
according to a new report called Creative Reading published by Demos. Libraries can help the next generation develop the higher-order skills of creative reading needed to get the most out of cultural and social life and meet the challenges of the 21st century job market.

“Given the number and variety of creative activities going on in libraries, they should be seen as one of the primary means by which the government can fulfil the cultural pledge given in the white paper The next Ten Years, Culture and Creativity,” says the report’s author, John Holden.

The report recommends that libraries build on their role in developing ‘creative reading, encouraging young people to make connections between different ideas and information sources. They should create spaces where the flow of ideas stimulated by reading can be recorded using whiteboards or computers.

Demos reports are available under a Creative Commons license.