Scottish Book Trust
Scottish Book Trust is a national charity based in Edinburgh that promotes literature, reading and writing across Scotland. It works with writers and publishers and runs the Scottish Children’s Book Award, funded by Creative Scotland. The charity was founded in 1998.
It invests about £3 million each year to fund and promote reading and writing. It gives away about a million books to the public and supports more than 1,200 literature events, including its Bookbug book gifting program. It backs over 400 Scottish writers and illustrators and runs two children’s book awards, including the Scottish Children’s Book Award. It also creates resources to help teachers and librarians improve literacy.
Bookbug, formerly known as Bookstart in Scotland, gives free books to all Scottish children. The Bookbug bags come with guidance for parents and carers, tips on sharing books, library information, and materials to boost language, listening and early writing. Bookbug runs free song-and-rhyme sessions for babies and toddlers in libraries and community centres.
The Trust’s children’s program aims to spark excitement about reading and writing. It reaches more than 45,000 children each year through live events and reading and writing campaigns.
The Writer Development programme provides professional development for writers at all levels. Past mentors have included Bernard MacLaverty, Alan Warner, Andrew Crumey, and literary agents Judy Moir and Kathryn Ross. There is also mentoring for new writers through the New Writers Awards; past awardees include Gail Honeyman, Pippa Goldsmith, and Graeme Macrae Burnet.
It works with teachers, librarians and literacy experts to create resources, projects and events that promote literacy through literature. It also presents the Scottish Book Trust Awards to honor an outstanding Learning Professional each year.
Book Week Scotland happens every November, with hundreds of free events featuring authors across Scotland and a writing project for the public to take part in.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:09 (CET).