Splashing out on libraries

Ten library authorities have received up to £300,000 to spend on a programme that aims to help stop young people from committing criminal acts this summer.

The programme, Splash Extra, is part of a larger Government initiative, Splash, which identifies potential young offenders in specific crime hotspots and engages them in arts and sports activity.

The recently formed charity The Reading Agency has chosen the 10 library authorities to benefit from the initiative: Birmingham, Blackburn with Darwen, Bradford, Knowsley, Lambeth, Liverpool, Manchester, St Helens, Stockport and Tower Hamlets.

Sue Stewart, co-ordinator, said: "We asked authorities to bid for funding based on what they could run properly. They had to have an existing relationship with youth offending teams or youth services."

The participating libraries will invite artists who work with text or images to perform. They will all link their art to the idea of words, reading and books. The artists range from cartoonists and video performance artists to text-message artists and a wheelchair-using, judo-practising graphic wordsmith.

Gary McKeone, Arts Council literature director, said: "This year the government wants to run activities that focus on skills development, especially numeracy and literacy."

It is the first year that literature has played such a crucial role in the summer Splash programme. Ms Stewart said: "In four to five weeks we may not make avid readers out of everyone. But even some basic changes can be a watershed in the lives of children who may never willingly have picked up a book."

Splash is now in its third year, with about 300 schemes running across the UK. Splash Extra received funding from the New Opportunities Fund, devised specifically to support arts activities. Mr Stewart said: "We want to build on this work to argue for more money, longer planning time and a more consistent programme."

The programme runs from 22nd July until 1st September. Each scheme has 160 participants in two age groups: from nine to 12, and from 13 to 17.