GPs prescribing self-help books in Britain

This article from the BMJ discusses a programme whereby general practitioners (GPs)--the equivalent to a primary care physician in the States--are prescribing self-help books from local libraries to their patients for a variety of mental health issues. Doctors sometimes don't want their patients to read certain things (I can tell you from personal experience that OCD and other anxiety disorders can cause you to fret about worst-case scenarios). Of course the good thing is that having some knowledge gives you a certain sense of control, and a lot of these issues are about feeling overwhelmed by a lack of control in one's life. This scheme allows them pick certain books they think will be helpful, provide guidance to using the book, and direct them to a librarian who can help further. I'm not sure how the decision is made over which are the 'best books'--whether it's physician-approval only or if the doctors and librarians are working together to come up with this. I've heard of several places where doctors prescribe information available in the hospital's consumer collection, but not in the surrounding community. Interesting.