In the library - Helen Hewitt

Photo by Shelby Murphy Figueroa on Unsplash

This week, I’ve started a new role, volunteering in the library at my daughters’ primary school. I’ll admit, I’ve always dreamt of being a librarian. That, or working in a bookshop. The ordered shelves; the studious silence; the smell of new paperbacks. The reality, of course, is very different, when a class of 8-year-olds comes piling through the door and heated debate ensues about whose turn it is to get which book from the most popular series. 

For many years, I worked as a doctor, specialising in public health medicine. In the UK, rather than treating individual patients, public health doctors seek to protect and improve the health of communities. They look at the bigger picture, trying to prevent disease before it happens. This includes things like vaccination, promoting healthy lifestyles, and responding to outbreaks of infection. At different points, I worked with local councils, the NHS, and government on a range of projects aimed at keeping people safe, preventing future problems, and creating healthier environments.

In 2022, I left the NHS. There were various factors behind this decision, but for the last couple of years, I’ve run a social enterprise combining a microbakery and community gardening project, supplying food to our local foodbank. I often say that my work now is ‘public health plus Jesus.’ In many cases, I’m helping people actually put into practice the things I used to recommend professionally. And if I can link that to my faith? Even better. Gardening, for example, is proven to improve children’s health and wellbeing, but if one child also comes away with a deeper understanding of how to care for God’s creation, that’s a bonus.
 
And so too the school library. Did you know that reading with young children significantly increases their chances of success later in life, academically, socially, and even economically? Children who grow up reading are more likely to develop empathy and emotional resilience. Higher literacy is also linked to better job prospects and income, which in turn are associated with a lower risk of chronic illness, a longer healthier life and so on.
 
Put simply, helping children develop a love of reading is one of the most powerful ways we can invest in their future. Of course, it isn’t a magic bullet - many other factors shape a child’s life - and teachers ultimately do the heavy lifting. (It’s also a faith school, where God is at the centre of everything, not just literacy.) But, if a handful of pupils grow to love books partly because I helped them access the library, I’ll take that.

I also think it’s pretty amazing that God has wired in such a way that many of the things which bring us joy – like reading – are also good for us. As Christian writers, we have an important part to play in that too, pointing people to the ultimate source of joy and wholeness, while making the world a little bit better in the meantime. 

Helen Hewitt is a baker, gardener, writer and maker. She lives in southwest London with  her husband and two young daughters. Formerly a doctor and clinical academic, she now runs a social enterprise, which combines a microbakery and community gardening project (@nourishandgrow_food). Helen is a member of the Community of Hopeweavers. 

You can find more of Helen's writing on her blog, Warp & Weft.