A READING club established by teenagers for youngsters in the town has now reached double digit membership as it goes from strength to strength.

The reading group at the town’s Our Space library, in Trimpley Street, was set up by Victoria Moughton, 17, Josh Martin, 14, Evie Edwards, 12 and Charlotte Hynes,12 set up the after-school book club three months ago and it now has 10 members.

The idea came about after the four youngsters became volunteers at the library to during the summer holidays to gain work experience.

Branch manager, Sheila Williams, said: “They were so enthusiastic and they really got involved in the library’s activities.

"By the end of the holidays they were keen to start their own book club – it’s been a great success and the club is now fully subscribed.”

Meetings are held once a month when the youngsters review the previous month’s author and rate the books they have read out of five.

“Currently, most books seem to the scoring highly with lots of fours and fives,” said Sheila.

“Volunteer Evie then gives a short Powerpoint presentation prepared by Victoria, on the next author and someone reads a passage from the book before copies are shared out among the other members.

“To have a teenage reading group is unusual, especially when research has found that teenagers seem to be reading less than they used to because they’re spending a lot of time looking at social media or playing games on their tablets and phones and phones.

"I think it’s the first self-led group of its kind in a Shropshire library and it’s lovely to hear them chatting so enthusiastically about the books they have read and hearing bursts of laughter as well.”

As one of the club’s founders, Charlotte said: “I’m really enjoying it because it’s a great way to find out about books that I might not have thought about reading before.

"It’s different from the books that we read at school.

"It’s also a good way to make new friends. We all seem to be like-minded through our love of books and we have some good discussions.

"We don’t always agree, but it’s interesting to exchange ideas and hear what other people think about different authors.”

Any teenager wishing to add name to the waiting list to join the club should email ellesmere.library@shropshire.gov.uk