Hi,

I asked for some advice on how much supporting material to order for the six 
book challenge. Here is a pracy of the replies I received. 

It seems that targeting the six book challenge to specific groups rather than 
working through a library branch, like with the summer reading challenge, 
brings the best results. Most authorities used approximately 2 x 50 sets of 
materials, and this was after a good deal of follow up work with the readers. 
Most work was done working in partnership with with adult education tutors. 
100 would seem to be a good starting point.

More detailed responses from Derbyshire, Surrey and Wirral:

"My only advice would be not to buy too much. The starter pack allows for 50 
learners which is more than sufficient. Also nearer Jan they usually have 
downloads as well."

"First year we worked exclusively with adult ed skills for life groups.  They 
gave us potential numbers and we ordered round that.  We started low (50 
and topped up later to 100). Eventually 78 took part and 38 completed. We 
ordered no incentives but offered our own (eg free dvd loans.  )This year we 
worked with other partners as well including local college (50 starters), school 
(150 starters), as well as adult ed (70 starters).  In practice many of our new 
contacts this year didn't complete, possibly as we had more tenuous links.  We 
ran no incentive scheme So, this year we are planning a more concerted effort 
on a number of different fronts (Carers, Care Homes, reading returners, 
workplaces) with still a core of at least 50 Adult Ed Skills for Life participants. 
We are ordering enough packs for 700 participants and are also ordering 
enough fridge magnets for all and c120 mugs for expected finishers."

"My job normally has a county-wide remit but the first year of this I aimed low, 
just concentrating on my local area, Woking and 
Camberley. I got materials for 100 and used about 95 reading diaries. Some 30 
certificates were given out, not brilliant but not totally awful. It was hard 
work, as I ran it alone and put in a lot of visit and reinforcement time.This year 
I widened the remit, getting several branches involved to reach out to their 
local community, though I still did most of the initial contacting, among various 
learning agencies. It was all very disappointing, with little more than half the 
participants we had last year, so we have lots of reading diaries etc. left over. 
After establishing the contacts and making initial visits I handed the work over 
to the branches but they didn't have the time or maybe the interest to follow 
the participants up as I had last year, or to look for more people during the 
course of the year.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I found the personal touch, the constant 
following up and nagging of all likely contacts, absolutely essential in keeping 
the initial enthusiasm going, so how much you order depends very much on 
how you're going to go about it. 90-odd people didn't seem like an awful lot to 
me at first, but I would think it's plenty for your first attempt unless you've 
got a dedicated team behind you "