Why Primary School Libraries?
Founded in November 2021 by the National Literacy Trust and Penguin Books, the Libraries for Primaries campaign (formerly the Primary School Library Alliance) is a group of organisations who work to address the lack of investment in primary school libraries.
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So far, we have transformed over 1,000 school libraries and trained over 2,000 teachers and support staff. Waterstones Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho kindly put pen to paper to create a commemorative poem called One Thousand Libraries to mark this first, impressive milestone.
The next phase of our campaign is to ensure that every primary school in the UK has a library or dedicated library space.
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Our partners include Arts Council England, Bloomberg, Foyle Foundation, Oxford University Press, The Portal Trust, The Unwin Foundation, The Julia Rausing Trust, and (at the time of writing) 30 supporting organisations.
Children are shaped intellectually and emotionally by the books they read. Reading supports empathy and creativity.
It stimulates the imagination, enhances vocabulary, excites and comforts.
Our Mission
Our mission is to ensure that every primary school in the UK has a library or dedicated library space. We campaign for change and run programmes that create a strong reading for pleasure culture in primary schools.
Why libraries?
Good school libraries can support children’s academic engagement and achievement and improve their empathy and wellbeing.
What do parents think?
A 2023 survey found that 86% of parents think that every primary school should have a library.
Did you know?
1 in 7 state primary schools in the UK do not have a library. This rises to 1 in 4 schools in the most disadvantaged communities.