Here in the UK we live in a print rich society, books abound in libraries, bookshops, even schools. The crisis predicted with the arrival of the computer and the internet linking us to the World Wide Web at the touch of a key has seen instead an explosion of printed material consciously offering a different experience. Young people today can access stories and information through a range of avenues, with the printed text now partnered with exciting illustration as an equal contender. However, even in our affluent world things are not always so rosy. We cannot make the easy assumption that access to books, to stories, to information is an easy path for all, nor is reading something that can be seamlessly learned. Not only that, faced with a multicultural audience who want indeed need to not just see themselves in the pages but also experience a variety of languages, how can practitioners find a way through the book jungle? How can librarians, teachers, parents young people themselves hear about one stand-out book that might just be what is required? Not something that is required for a test, just an exciting suggestion.

We are so lucky. What if books are a rarity? If reading, that essential tool in the contemporary world whether for technology or the imagination, is not the norm? What if your life is difficult in ways that are not easy to imagine? How can families in such situations be reached?

In this issue you can learn about some projects both in this country and abroad that aim to do just that.

Doorstep Library is an initiative in the UK that aims to help families that do struggle with reading and access to books. Using trained volunteers, the charity works to encourage and support families reading together, making a reading culture not something that happens outside the home but becomes part of the home. Supporting families is central to the ethos of the Read Me initiative founded by Zohreh Ghaeni. Now active not just in Iran where it began, Read Me is reaching communities and families in parts of Afghanistan. Books are important, but much more is needed. Here again it is the fostering of shared reading, shared stories and experiences, encouraging a range of literacies that is at the heart of all that Read Me does. It is an inspiring vision.

Reaching communities across Pakistan, the Book Bus brings a mobile library to many for whom such a phenomenon might be something out of a fairy tale. However, it is reality. It started with one, the brain child of Basarat Midhat Kazim now there are many. And the work is not just a matter of dropping off a few books. The Book Bus movement works with schools, especially in areas hit by natural or man-made disasters to support traumatised children. The arrival of the colourful Book Bus in a rural community is a moment of joy; another inspiring story. The images that accompany these stories show the smiling faces of children.