As part of our National Year of Reading celebrations, we’d love to invite UHCW staff to take part in our first ever Reading Challenge!
Open to all UHCW staff and placement students, the challenge is all about making space for reading in a way that feels right for you. Whether you are a lifelong reader, or haven’t picked up a book in a while, this is a great opportunity to find some inspiration and support your wellbeing through reading, one page at a time.
Whatever you’re into, read into it.
What is the Reading Challenge?
Rediscover a love of reading, or find new inspiration, using our list of 15 reading prompts. You can yourself your own personal challenge for the duration of the challenge, or just aim for the minimum target – it’s totally up to you.
However, to complete the challenge you’ll need to:
- Read books that match one of the 15 challenge categories.
- Tell us what you’ve read!
- Collect stickers for your physical reading passport from the library helpdesk, or;
- Log your reading using our online form
How many books do I need to read?
To complete the challenge, you need to read and log 5 books in total before 31st December 2026.
That works out to roughly ¾ of a book each month to meet the minimum target.
The book doesn’t have to come from our library – it can be part of your own collection, borrowed from a friend or something you’ve found at your local public library too. However, we do have a great fiction and non-fiction collection to browse and find some reading inspiration!
Feeling the reading bug? Try our stretch goal: read up to 15 books by tackling each of our reading prompts.
The Categories
The books you read are all your own choice, but they will need to meet one of these categories, which you need to identity in your submissions:
- A book from an author you have never read before
- A book with a beautiful cover
- A book from a place you've never been
- A book based on a true story
- A non-fiction book on a topic you know nothing about
- A book recommended by a librarian
- A book you’ve been meaning to read for years
- A book you picked up randomly
- A book that’s been adapted into a film or TV show
- A book from a genre you don't usually read
- A book under 200 pages
- A book that made you laugh
- A book that made you cry
- A book featuring a journey or road trip
- A book translated into English
How do I log my books?
In person: collect your own Reading Passport from the library helpdesk at any time. Once you’ve read your book, fill out the details on your passport, give it your rating and pop by the library during staffed hours where the helpdesk team will be happy to stamp your passport with a challenge sticker. Once you’ve read all 5, pop your completed passport in the box at the helpdesk. You can pick up another passport and continue the challenge if you wish: each completed passport of 5 books will count as an entry into our prize draw.
Online: If you can’t make it to the helpdesk to complete your passport, you can submit your reads online instead. You won’t get a sticker for each read, but every 5 books logged via the form will also count as an entry into the prize draw.
The online form can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/ALSdvevbKe
If you’d like to share your thoughts on the books you read, there will be review slips for you to complete at the reading challenge display, or you can leave your thoughts online here: https://padlet.com/bethjacksonuhcw/readingchallenge
What’s it in for me?!
Prizes!
Each completed passport, or 5 online entries, submitted before 31st December 2026 will be eligible for an entry into our prize draw. Further details on these prizes will be announced later this summer, but you can be sure they’ll be bookish in nature!
The real reward, of course, will be reading for pleasure and boosting your wellbeing 😊
There will also be some digital awards to collect along the way: we’ll send you a badge to display in your email signature or social media for every 5 books you complete as part of the challenge:
Bronze Award: 5 books
Silver Award: 10 books
Gold Award: 15 books
Platinum Award: 20+ books
How do I get started?
- Decide on whether you’d like a physical reading passport, or if you want to join in online
- Pick up a book!
There’s nothing else to register for, or sign-up to, unless you aren’t already a member of the library. If that’s the case, join us at the helpdesk on fill in our online membership form: https://www.uhcwlibrary.org/library-essentials#membership
We’ll be on hand to offer recommendations in person, through our social media and displays in the library. We’ll also be happy to share yours if you’ve found a new favourite or recommendation!
If you need some accountability to keep you motivated, why not come along to the next edition of our UHCW Book Club and enjoy reading as part of a community? Keep an eye on the News section of the library website for the next meeting: https://www.uhcwlibrary.org/news or email us at library@uhcw.nhs.uk to join our Teams channel.