Celebrating milestones at Shared Reading

Although at Shared Reading we mainly share our open group sessions, we have so many incredibly special closed reading groups that are invaluable to the community. 

A few of our open and closed groups have recently celebrated significant milestones and anniversaries and we’d love to showcase the dedication and hard work that volunteers put into these groups.

A lovely quote from one of our group attendees: “Shared Reading has made a 100% difference in my life. The volunteers who run it are super people - so knowledgeable, empathetic and fun too. I’ve learnt so much and really bonded with the group.”

Here are a few of these groups and information on how you could join:

📕Allestree Library celebrated their 1st anniversary 12th November! Join us at Park Farm Centre, Park Farm Drive, Allestree, DE22 2QN, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 11:30am - 12:30pm

📘Our group in partnership with Derby Carers celebrated their 1st anniversary on 18th November! (closed group)

📗Alvaston Library celebrated their 50th session on 16th October, join us at 1252 London Road, Derby, DE24 8QP fortnightly on Thursdays, 10:30am - 11:30am

Celebrating these milestones at our groups consisted of some varied reading materials and lively discussion across a wide range of topics, from handwriting and climate change to fairies, school spelling tests and the infectious nature of kindness, paired perfectly with some sweet treats! 

If you’re interested in joining an open Shared Reading group, we have many across Derbyshire that we share every week on the website and social media, you can even express your interest in our new online group that starts in January here.

We have open groups at a number of places including: 

• Artcore Café - weekly
• Allestree Library - fortnightly
• Mickleover Library - fortnightly
• Alvaston Library - fortnightly
• Spondon Library - monthly
• Beyond Words Book Group: for adults (18+) with learning disabilities and their companions or carers - monthly
• NEW: Online Group - starting on 21st January 2026! - fortnightly 

You can also email us any questions at shared.reading@derbybookfestival.co.uk, we hope to see you there!