Blog! Week 2 of our book stock campaign – Health & Wellbeing books!

In case you missed it,  we’re spending a few weeks this summer showcasing the book stock at Warrington’s libraries – and picking a few of our favourite genres and perhaps inspiring you to try something different from your usual read!

We’re calling this little campaign SummerStock 2019 and over the next 6 week’s we will be posting videos, photos, polls and general discussion points on this website and our social media channels.

We’d love YOU to get involved by commenting and sharing what sort of books YOU like to read – and what sort of books you would like to see on library shelves.

Warrington Borough Council’s cabinet member for leisure and community, Cllr Tony Higgins, said: “We want to make our libraries inclusive, creative and inspirational for all. High quality books is a hugely important part of that, which is why we’re investing so heavily in our stock.

 “We’ve talked to local people about the types of books they’d like to see, and this has helped us stack our library shelves with a range of diverse titles, aimed at keeping people of all ages, abilities and interests, coming back again and again.

 “Reading is one of the best things you can do. For adults, it can promote wellbeing, provide mental stimulation and reduce stress. For children, it can improve vocabulary, broaden horizons and boost imaginations. There’s never been a better time to get into reading in Warrington. So why not get down to your local library, and see what you can discover?”

After looking at the Young Adult genre last week, this week we are checking out the Health and Wellbeing books that are available across all of LiveWire’s libraries in Warrington.

Libraries have a hugely important role to play in helping and improving peoples’ wellbeing. The library can be one of the first places people turn to for information and advice on a range of topics relating to physical and mental health.

Indeed an Arts Council survey in 2015 concluded that libraries are good for our health. The research showed that not only were library users more satisfied with their lives, being a regular user of the library was estimated to save the NHS just under £30m a year!

So, from healthy eating to mindfulness, there’s a wealth of help between the pages at your local library.

Here, LiveWire’s Strategic Library Manager Wendy Molyneux, talks a bit more about our health and wellbeing collections, a topic she is very passionate about due to her personal interest in the subject!

“This subject fits in perfectly with what LiveWire is all about – improving people’s health and wellbeing.

“More and more people are becoming interested in their health and wellbeing, particularly in their mental health. Which is why we have invested in a lot of books to do with mindfulness, how to cope with everyday stress and anxiety.

“Our books cover so much more than everyday medical conditions. We have booked on diet and nutrition, on men’s health, we also have a collection of books called Reading Well and also our dementia collection, which are books to bridge the gap between people with dementia, their carers and their families.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look at our health and wellbeing book stock. We’d love to hear if this is an area that you use libraries to learn more about.

Next week…Community Librarian Rachel talks all things Summer Reading Challenge!