INSIGHT
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School libraries are not an optional enhancement but essential infrastructure – powerful equalisers that ensure every child, regardless of background, can engage with reading and realise their potential.1
HE campaign to have school libraries made a statutory requirement has been long-running, with petitions, lobbying
of Parliament encouraging and supporting published research evidence, APPG support, a ‘Great School Libraries’ initiative, and various reports presented over the recent call for evidence. Now, at last we appear to have an important statement of recognition. The UK House of Com mons Education Select Committee Reading for Pleasure report has acknowledged the impact on learning from librarians and libraries in schools. This outcome is the product of dedicated and determined work by numerous individuals and organisations, including CILIP. There is acknowledgment that positive outcomes for all children can be driven by better access to libraries: a library card from birth and ensuring there are libraries available to them at each level of their education thereby creating a national reading guarantee of regular access to books from birth to 18.
The report gives a good reflection of all the research evidence and contributions made by a wide range of experienced and knowledgeable organisations. CILIP made several submissions to reflect its position overarching the entire library sector. The report recommends that data be collected to inform a national picture of how many schools currently have libraries and, of those, how many have a dedicated staff member. They intend this information must be gathered and presented by July 2027. Such workforce data would be invaluable to CILIP for future planning. It would also be useful to note the qualification of the dedicated staff member and whether this is full time or part of their role in school. Combining the Reading for Pleasure report with this year’s Education Policy Institute report that marks a decade of tracking disadvantaged pupils and their peers in England, there are some interesting possibilities for the positioning of school libraries and librarians. Progress on closing the gap on disadvantage has stalled and in some areas it has reversed. The EPI report observes there are possible links between falling KS4 attainment, declining mental health and wellbeing,
August-September 2026
reduced enjoyment of school and weaker student belonging and safety.2 When an under-resourced education system is measured for its outcomes rather on what helps a child and young person to thrive is it any wonder that their wellbeing is low? Combined then, with a world where families struggle, war and division dominate the news and older siblings cannot find employment, many children and young people feel their future is unsafe. School librarians create spaces where children feel known, recognised and accepted, for many it is a place of stability and continuity in their day and throughout their week. A sense of safety is essential in order to be able to grow as a learner. School libraries are children’s centres for wellbeing and work directly to combat disadvantage. An active school library addresses literacy, reading, information literacy needs, it can provide formal teaching support of qualification courses e.g. EPQ, A level course work and IB studies. It resources the teaching staff to support their classroom delivery, their CPD and personal reading. It provides study and homework support. It can host club activities, be it reading, Dungeons and Dragons etc. An experienced librarian has a portfolio of skills and insight which can be used to tailor a school’s library offering to meet the needs of the children and staff in any school. If Andy Burnham’s government wish is to make a difference to disadvantage and poverty then making school libraries statutory with a qualified staff member to create an active service is an evidence- backed route to take.3
School librarians
who facilitate effective library lessons can increase reading engagement and help raise attainment which can help outweigh socio-economic disadvantage in a child’s background. It would be a positive and determined step towards a better future for our young people.
We await the formal government response to the RfP report and as usual we depend upon political pressure and public influence to make headway. The report does recognise the need for a dedicated staff member and a budget which means schools will need new funding for this to happen. It recommends library lessons in the school timetable which would not only support reading but provide the opportunity for librarians to contribute to the new media literacy curriculum.
Carol Webb, Chair of CILIP’s School Libraries Group and Marianne de Giovanni, Head Librarian, Bedales School and Secretary, SLG.
The report recommends for the DfE to expand its ‘library in every primary school’ programme to include all secondary schools and it calls for government to recognise the importance of the role school libraries play by giving them statutory status. However, in the same paragraph it says ‘consult and be open to what defines a school library e.g. a book corner or a dedicated room’. If this is not carefully described and prescribed it could mean little actual change would be needed (in some cases) in order to fulfil the requirement. This report is a welcome and positive endorsement of all that libraries can offer to support Reading for Pleasure. It is also a vindication for all the work and effort that has come before where our profession has asked government to recognise the impact we have and acknowledge the benefits we see every day in our role. However, as the new government changes some of its players in the game and we move into the second half, we cannot predict where the goals will be scored. With five further incoming inquiry reports, no doubt each one with numerous recommendations and the Curriculum and Assessment Review to be implemented, there is much for a new Education Secretary to digest and organise. Lucy Powell will be the 11th Education Secretary in a decade, this rapid changing of personnel has made it challenging to progress the substantial change that is needed in our education system. Frank Cottrell Boyce, the former Waterstones Children’s Laureate recently said we must be optimistic because we cannot afford pessimism. And he is right, a great deal rests upon pursuing our goals, and whilst we have scored a defining hit with this report, this is not the time to take our eye off the ball. IP
References
1. House of Commons, Education Select Committee (2026) Reading for Pleasure: second report of session 2026-27.
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/54321/documents/302025/ default/
2. Education Policy Institute (2026) Annual Report. https://epi.
org.uk/annual-report-2026/annual-report-es-2026/
3. Lance, K.C., Kachel, D.E. and Gerrity, C. (2023). The School Librarian Equity Gap: inequities associated with race and ethnicity compounded by poverty, locale and enrolment. Peabody Journal of Education 19 (1) p85-99.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0161956X.2023.2160112#abstract.
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