National Literacy Trust and Penguin Random House call for urgent action after report shows 40% of primary schools have no dedicated library budget
There is a “chronic” lack of investment in primary school libraries in the UK, with teachers often forced to buy reading materials for children with their own money, according to a new study. But an alliance between the National Literacy Trust (NLT) and Penguin Random House UK (PRH) is setting out to transform 1,000 school libraries, with organisers calling on the government, businesses and charities to back their efforts.
Schools are not statutorily required to have a library on their premises, and the report, The Future of Primary School Libraries, reveals that four out of 10 have no dedicated library budget. Some respondents to the study said they were relying on donations from families or buying books from charity shops to stock their shelves. “Most teachers spend their own money adding to these resources, owing to lack of school funding,” said one. The lack has long been protested by authors, with current children’s laureate Cressida Cowell writing in April to Boris Johnson asking him to dedicate £100m a year to revitalising “deteriorating” primary school libraries across the country.
