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Our charity is founded to change lives with books, reading and writing, supporting people across Scotland at all stages of life. A love of reading inspires creativity, boosts family bonding, improves employment opportunities, mental health and wellbeing and is one of the most effective ways to help break the poverty cycle.

The Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour has visited every local authority in Scotland, bringing the best and brightest names in children's literature to schools for fully-funded events. Children who have experienced an author event are 60% more likely to read in their free time.

169 writers have been supported through the awards, including Graeme Macrae Burnet who was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2016. The Callan Gordon Award was added in 2013, and the Next Chapter Award in 2014. The first Next Chapter Awardee was Gail Honeyman, bestselling author of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Bookbug is the biggest nationwide universal book gifting programme in the world. Bookbug, supported by Scottish Government, gifts books to babies and children, with song and rhyme sessions taking place in libraries all over Scotland.

Over 8.8 million Bookbug books have been gifted to date, and an average of 375 Bookbug Sessions take place each week. We created the Bookbug app in 2019 as one more way for families and carers to fit songs and rhymes into their day.

The hundredth Authors Live event was broadcast in November 2022, and the events have been viewed over 5 million times.

'Incredibly valuable for a small rural school who cannot get author visits due to location. Our pupils feel like they have a real connection when they take part, and that they are right in the front of the audience.' – Burravoe Primary, Shetland

Book Week Scotland takes place in every region of Scotland, with funding and support given to organisations to run bespoke local events. We also publish a free book, Scotland's Stories, featuring a collection of true short stories submitted by the Scottish public. Over 50,000 copies are distributed during Book Week Scotland every year, with audio and ebook versions also available.

To date, we have gifted over 1.7 million books through over 850,000 Read Write Count bags – including 22,400 books in Gaelic. In our most recent evaluation, 94% of parents and carers said they had read the books together, and many said the gifted titles had become favourites.

We have partnered with charities Macmillan Cancer Support, Scottish Adoption and MS Society Northern Ireland to provide a powerful way for people to share stories, connect with others and celebrate unique voices. Lots of the stories can be found on the Digital Stories website.

This award creates and protects space for new works from contemporary Scots voices, as well as facilitating collections and translations of significant historical works. 34 books have been supported so far, including a Scots translation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

'Thanks tae the Scots Language Publication Grant, noo fan I perform at an event and somebody asks 'Where can I buy the book with that poem?', I'll finally be able tae pynt them in the direction o DWAMS.' – Shane Strachan, Scots Scriever

Reading is Caring provides training to people who care for someone living with dementia. The free, friendly workshops focus on learning to create personalised, shared and sensory reading experiences that can help maintain their caring relationships, spark memories and relieve stress.

'Reading is Caring was fantastic. The stories bring mum into the here and now. She laughs, she's interested and engaged. I get a glimpse of her personality again, which is lovely for both of us.' - Mary's daughter, Rhona

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we have been able to gift over 290,000 books through food banks, community hubs and other charities through the Urgent Children's Book Appeal in 2020 and our subsequent Christmas appeals.

As of September 2023, 370 schools have become accredited Reading Schools. In our most recent evaluation, 97% of learning professionals felt reading for pleasure had become a routine activity at their school due to Reading Schools.

Live Literature supports author visits across Scotland, bringing the magic of reading and writing to over 16,000 people each year. Watch authors Vivian French, Harry Josephine Giles and Nadine Aisha Jassat share their favourite memories of the programme.