YORK residents battling mental health issues may be given a self-help reading list run through the city’s libraries as part of their therapy.
The Books on Prescription scheme, operated by City of Council in partnership with national health organisations, will allow GPs and mental health professionals to recommend reading from a set of 30 approved books designed to help people address or manage conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Records of loans and the borrower’s details will be confidential and the prescribed books can be ordered and borrowed from all libraries, including the mobile and home libraries.
The initiative is driven by the Reading Agency and the Society of Chief Librarians and endorsed by bodies including the Royal Colleges of GPs, Nursing and Psychiatrists, the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and the Department of Health.
The book prescription will act as identification for borrowers who are not library members.
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