Books on trams for World Mental Health Day 2026
6,000 free books were placed on seats across the Manchester Metrolink’s trams on the morning of Friday 9 October 2026 by Read Manchester, along with a further 2,000 at bus interchanges carried out by Greater Manchester Libraries. This was part of a campaign called Take 10 To Read launched in 2018 by the National Literacy Trust. This highlighted that 10 minutes of reading a day improves one’s mental wellbeing, so to coincide with World Mental Health Day (which actually fell on the next day, Saturday 10 October), before trams were sent out of depots in the morning, teams placed the books on tram seats. Some were also placed whilst the trams were in service, but still early in the morning. A total of 8,000 books were given out across the transport network.
Picture of a book along with Bee Network bookmark, taken 9 October 2026. Retrieved from Reddit by u/FlandersClaret.
Scrolling messages appeared at tram stops on display boards, saying: “Pick up a book and #Take10toRead this World Mental Health Day on the Bee Network…”
The Bee Network also added their own bookmarks with the books, reading: “Just 10 minutes of reading can reduce stress and boost your mood. Start a new journey this World Mental Health Day, with a free book on us. Share what you’re reading with #Take10toRead”
A fairly wide selection of books were available, including books and novels by Michael Connelly, LJ Ross, John Grisham, Cass Green, Eric Schlosser, and Marcus Rashford. There were also more kid-friendly books like The Gruffalo and some Disney novels.
Transpennine Express also did something identical to this on Saturday 10 October, giving out free books on some services from Manchester Airport, carried out by The Reading Agency. Manchester Libraries gifted a further 1,800 books away at The Christie hospital. There were many positive reactions to this by people on social media, and inadvertently created a much more social atmosphere on-board public transport around Manchester.
