Things That Promote Reading

There is a pop up bookshop that's currently* in the Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre. Under the children's books there's a sign saying "There is no app to replace your lap" to encourage parents to read books to their children. This is more designed to get people buying books more than actually promoting reading. It's still a good way to promote reading, because it's appealing to parent's sense of fear of parenting wrong & wanting to do the best by their child. The pop up shop is in the middle of the walkway in the shopping centre & is easy to see. This sign and other pro reading signs cover the underside the table of the shop. As Cranbourne's only dedicated bookstore it's an effective way to encourage people to buy books, because these signs are all about parenting right and escaping to a magical world. But as Cranbourne's only dedicated bookstore it can't be all that effective in encourage people to read. *at the time of...

The Cranbourne railway station has a shelf of books next to the Myki payment station for commuters to help themselves to in as they get on the train. The books are donated by the Cranbourne Library and are free for people to take, although it is encouraged that people swap books; leave their old book when picking up a new book. The bookshelf is hidden away between the Myki payment station and the Myki reader. There is no signage to let people know that the books are there to take. It's very easy to walk by them without even noticing them, even when topping up your Myki. So while the idea does help to promote literature, most commuters from the Cranbourne railway station don't know that they're available. For the people who do happen to notice the books it is not clear whether they can take the books or have to pay for them, which might put a lot of people off from taking a book to read on the way into the city. Especially if they're in a rush to get on the train. ...