College targets reading groups.

Byline: PHILIP KEY 

AS LIVERPOOL City Council and its education department continues its year of encouraging an interest in books, a new campaign along the same lines has been launched by the publishers of the University of Liverpool's Reader magazine.

The quarterly magazine has announced its new reading groups feature.

According to Frances Macmillan, one of the campaign's organisers, the magazine wants to attract members of reading groups across the region to write in explaining all about their activities and what is on their reading agenda.

"In return, we will publish the letters in the magazine and use them to design a feature that offers something a bit different' thus promoting reading, literacy and learning in an innovative and creative way," explained Frances.

She added: "This is partly in response to what we have learned from The Reader's recent social inclusion project - Get Into Reading - which sets up weekly community-based reading groups in some of the most deprived areas of Merseyside.

"Tackling Shakespeare or Tolstoy in that context is therefore much less scary than it might be otherwise and can be far more rewarding," said Frances.

Reading groups interested in taking part in the project can email: [e-mail] or telephone [phone].