Create a vision If you’re looking to establish a
library, there are three main components to consider: the available reading materials, physical space and resources, and the staff who run it. As well as the initial setup costs, each element will require ongoing funding to ensure long-term success. Factor in how you will maintain the area, keep stock levels consistent, fund staff and purchase new resources. One person’s rigid vision is
unlikely to inspire, so make it a team effort. Gather your stakeholders together to define the library’s goals and explore potential sources of funding. Key participants may include the headteacher, English subject lead and school librarian, and representatives from the parent body and pupils. The PTA are likely to be in a strong position to engage the parent and local community, and can also work with pupils to create a sense of unity and collaboration. To determine the best location
for the library, identify what you will need it to accomplish: Will it be large enough to hold your books? Will the school use it for intervention groups, small teaching groups or phonics? Will teachers take a class of 30 children there for story time?
LIBRARY SUCCESS
Responding to a request for donations, Handlesbanken donated money for library books at Southover Primary School
‘Sharing information about the library helped us reach our fundraising target’
We used to have a pop-up library, but it had been moved around a lot and was eventually packed away. In 2021, the school approached the Friends about setting up a permanent library in a dedicated, accessible space. We’ve got a good, active group of
parents who raise funds continually, and we work well and closely with the school. But we knew that a library requires more than a few bake sales and non-uniform days and we’d need to raise a large amount of money. The headteacher came to us with
a ready-made design for a library area from a company called BookSpace (bookspaceforschools.
co.uk) and a quote for the cost that included shelves, stools, toadstools and a rug. It came to just under £13,500. On top of that there would be extras, including all the new books and stickers to catalogue them, as well as painting, decorating and electrical work.
Our town places great value on its independent shops and the school was keen to buy books from a local firm. Children’s bookshop Bags of Books (
bags-of-books.co.uk) put together a wish list for us, with a good mix of titles from poetry to black history, making sure to cover a wide range of themes. We still use them now – the Friends have pledged to continue adding to the stock every year. Teachers recently fed back that graphic novels are particularly popular, so we’ve just ordered some in. As soon as we knew how much we needed to raise, we started posting on our social media channels and sending newsletters to the parent community. We’ve noticed that we hit our fundraising targets when we are very specific about what we’re fundraising for and how the children will benefit. So we posted pictures of the library design to allow people to see what we were hoping to get. One Facebook post resulted in a very
16 SPRING 2025 School Fundraising
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