Edinburgh Napier University

  Research tells us that involvement in reading for pleasure has positive outcomes. Similarly, research tells us that the earlier new students feel welcome in their university the more likely they are to stay and complete their degree. This presentation reports on a project that put together these two research strands offering all new students at two universities the opportunity to read the same book and share their responses on arrival with each other, staff, and their wider new community.
The Big Read began at Kingston University in 2015 and in 2016 was shared with Edinburgh Napier. Here we offer feedback on the processes and results of sharing a single book within two university communities 450 miles apart and how this worked in practice. Universities tend to be hierarchical institutions and we look at the key role played by library colleagues in spreading enthusiasm for the project working across the organisations to share information throughout all roles and responsibilities but particularly with those teaching or mentoring first years.
We look at the process of choosing a single book for our two communities, how we communicated with the students pre-arrival, and activities organised during both Welcome Weeks. We examine wider community involvement with local public libraries schools and sharing the project with a shelter for those experiencing homelessness. We explore outcomes comparing feedback from questionnairing students and staff with wider university metrics tracked over the longer-term. Finally, we consider what might happen in the longer term, and how both institutions might build on the initiative in future.