Suhad Al-Ozeimi scooped first prize in the National Six Book Challenge 2011 through her ESOL class at Westminster Adult Education Service.
A young mother of two teenagers, Suhad has been living in London since 1994 when she left Iraq. She enrolled on an English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) Entry Level 3 course to improve her written and spoken English and successfully progressed onto Level 1.

Organised by the Reading Agency, the aim of the challenge is for adults with literacy needs to develop a reading habit through choosing, reading and expressing their views about books.

            

"If you can't read you can't do anything," says Suhad. "The challenge for me was to read the books on my own and this has improved the way I read. I'll definitely carry on reading now. I was shocked when I found out that I have won the national prize but at the same time proud because of all the hard work that I have put in reading all those amazing books. I didn't only enter the competition hoping to win the prize but I wanted to enter a different world of stories in my mind. The one thing people must remember is 'nothing is better than learning and achieving'."

         

Suhad read a mix of books for the Challenge but particularly enjoyed The Elephant Man by Tim Vicary - "I liked the character in this book because he has a kind heart even though he is ugly."

She received her certificate at an award ceremony held at Paddington Library on 14 July attended by dozens of other ESOL learners who had taken part in the scheme. Author Linda Stratmann gave out the certificates and talked about the power of reading to change people's lives. Westminster Libraries registered 287 participants this year of whom 76 completed the scheme. "We are very pleased with the rate," said Mary Enright, Reading, Learning and Community Services Manager. "Our success was due to successful partnership working with colleges and other learning providers. Schemes like this help learning providers recognise libraries as a valuable partner in supporting their delivery."

Steven Curic, ESOL Skills for Life Course Team Leader/Teacher Trainer at WAES, commented: "I encourage my colleagues to visit our local libraries as part of the student induction procedure, in order to familiarize the learners with the process of borrowing books and enhance their learning experience. The value of books should not be underestimated. As a life-long learner myself, I am very enthusiastic about passing this message on to my learners and motivate them as much as possible to develop their own reading practices, which will in turn help their overall language acquisition and make a considerable difference to their lives."