1998 The Next Issue and The Reading PartnershipThe Arts Council held a follow-up conference to Reading the Future in 1998 called Reading for Life. The most important part of the conference was the 'mapping' research work commissioned from Miranda McKearney of Well Worth Reading and Launchpad, Jonathan Davidson of Birmingham Libraries and Debbie Hicks of East Midlands Arts.
Published as The Next Issue - Reading Partnerships for Libraries, the report articulated the case for libraries' role in reading promotion and argued the need for a central agency to co-ordinate, advocate and influence on behalf of public libraries and reading. The final plenary session at the conference endorsed this aim and the three presenters became a new advocacy organisation called The Reading Partnership. In 2002 The Reading Partnership became part of The Reading Agency.
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