'Keep the Heid and Read' campaign aiming to boost our mental health

A national campaign across Scotland is encouraging more of us to visit our local libraries and pick up a book.

‘Keep the Heid and Read’ has been backed by Succession star Brian Cox and is helping to highlight the positive impact reading can have on mental health and wellbeing.

Run by the Scottish libraries and Information Council, it’s encouraging everyone to donate six minutes of their time a day to reading.

All 14 of Dundee’s public libraries are involved, including the Central Library at the Wellgate Centre.

Tanya Duthie, from Leisure and Culture Dundee, told STV News: “We’ve created some cosy book nooks where we’re just letting staff use their imagination and make a nice little place where people feel comfortable sitting and reading for the day.”

The campaign was designed to promote mental wellbeing and highlight how reading for six minutes a day can reduce stress and boost mood.

Dundee-born actor Brian Cox, star of hit TV show Succession, is backing the appeal and the city’s libraries.

In a message, he said: “Reading is about knowledge and how we discover things; we have the internet of course, but there is nothing that compares to a good novel.

“Reading helps us understand our history, provokes thought and stimulates our imagination.”

Betty McKay enjoys a book at Central Library in Dundee.

Betty McKay, 87, from Dundee, makes a visit to the library every month to stock up the book shelf.

She said: “Any book that I take a fancy to I just pick it up and read it, it’s really good. I love reading, it calms you down.

“Once you get the cleaning done, turn the TV off, just get a book, it’s really brilliant.”

James Duncan, from Dundee, visits the library every day and said: “These libraries are not used to their full potential.

“More and more people should use them because [when] you read a book, you’re in a different world all together. You let your imagination run away with you.”