The purpose of Off the Shelf is to maintain young peoples' reading enthusiasm. Following feedback from school librarians, we are trying a new format for Off the Shelf this year. The focus will be on an interesting and stimulating speaker who, as well as being a published author, has also achieved success in another area of the arts. It is intended that this will help students with their own writing, with their career choices, and as a stimulus to broaden their reading.We aim to provide a stimulating reading list to encourage debate about reading and the varied responses a book can provoke. The shortlist is an effective means of alerting young people to a variety of authors and formats and it allows students to explore the breadth of reading available. We provide a support pack to help you organize events in school.
Abour our speaker, Rosie Alison. Rosie's debut novel has recently been published to critical acclaim, The very thought of you is a story of love, loss and complicated loyalties set during the Second World War. After university Rosie joined the South Bank Show, Britain's longest running arts documentary TV series. She was a freelance documentary producer/director for more than ten years, working on many television films. Her credits include Omnibus, Grand Designs and The Lipstick Years. In 2001 she made the switch into the film industry joining David Heyman's production company, Heyday Films Ltd. She is Head of Development at Heyday's UK office, and recently co-produced The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Is There Anybody There? (starring Michael Caine).

Schools Library Service, New Barnfield, Travellers Lane, Hatfield. AL10 8XG
Tel: 01707 281630 Fax: 01707 281611
E-mail: info@herts-sls.org.uk