CONTRIBUTORS How one school library has inspired a love of reading
Our regular contributor, education journalist SAL MCKEOWN, visited Dorrington Academy to discover how this school is encouraging its pupils to enjoy reading.
World Book Day was the perfect time to visit a highly acclaimed library in a Birmingham school. After being greeted by reception staff masquerading as pirates, I sat down with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Monkey from Bunny vs Monkey to discuss the strategies that have proved so successful in getting their pupils reading for pleasure.
Dorrington Academy in Perry Barr, graded outstanding by Ofsted, was one of just three schools in the country
to be shortlisted for the 2025 Peter Usborne Primary School Library of the Year Award. This is run by the School Library Association (SLA) and celebrates settings where everyone comes together to make the library a central part of school life. Headteacher John Harrison said: “Reading for pleasure, a love of books: it’s not an addition to the curriculum, it’s a driver for everything.”
Stocking the library without busting the budget Reba Khatun is the librarian. She is also author of Zaynab’s Tiger Day, an Oxford Reading Level 12 book, and has contributed to The Faber Book of Bedtime Stories. She is the powerhouse behind the expansion of the library and has become an expert on obtaining free resources: ‘You need to have eyes and ears everywhere, on the internet, social media accounts, signing up with organisations that have special offers’. The Reading Agency offers free book and display materials for libraries, schools and book clubs. These are provided by publishers. Reba signed up for the Lollies (Laugh Out Loud Book Awards, chosen by children) and has been a judge, so the school received copies of all the shortlisted books.
It’s not just books that schools can get for free. Dorrington Academy contacted Libraries for Primaries, founded by the National Literacy Trust and Penguin books in 2021. They received a Yoto Player, cushions, bean bags, book stands, plus 500 free books. Since then, the school has received several consignments of books and have posted videos on Instagram showing the children’s delight as they open the boxes.
Teamwork
Dorrington Academy was shortlisted for the Peter Osborne Prize because of their focus on teamwork. As they expanded from a small reference library to support the curriculum, to a separate lending library, they asked the School Council to speak to their classmates to gather suggestions. Now, as well as books, they have magazine subscriptions that include Horrible Histories, Lego, Eco Kids Planet and football titles. Teachers helped refresh the reference section by matching books to curriculum topics. At a time when the internet is full of fake news, libraries can be an important source of reliable information but learners need to develop the skills to navigate a library, to make effective use of an index and content pages. In many classrooms the day ends with a ‘reading for pleasure’ text. This rotates every term so pupils experience a range of genres, aside from their literacy learning Children are keen to be pupil librarians. They are trained to use a library management system, to check books in and out, before and after school or during breaks. They unpack, catalogue and shelve books, and take book boxes out into the playground at break times when some children want to chill out and lose themselves in a story.
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www.education-today.co.uk May 2026 Involving families
Parents were interested in buying children’s books, so staff arranged for the Scholastic Book Fair to take over the school library for a week. Pupils browsed during school hours and families visited during a parents’ evening and had time to look around, talk to others and choose books to enjoy with their children at home. Now part of the library is about to become a base for adult education classes. These feature the usual ESOL and computing courses but also sugar craft, jewellery making and floristry and the children will be able to join in for the last half hour for some family learning time.
The school encourages reading at home and has recently adopted a platform called Learning with Parents. This is a digital reading log and every child has a login. Staff record reading at school and parents illustrate the children’s reading at home with video and photographs. As part of the celebrations for World Book Day, children receive a £1 book token to spend in a bookshop that participates in the scheme. Dorrington had a pop up bookshop in the library. This is because there are no bookshops close at hand. There is something for all tastes and levels from Peppa Pig: One Big Family to Funny FACTopia! From Unbelievable Football: The Most Amazing World Cup Stories You Never Knew to Skandar and the Secret Element. The school was awarded 800 books for their pupils and an additional 400 books to distribute to the community. They got in touch with parents who contacted local children’s clubs such as karate, scouts or local tuition centres, so they were able to distribute all the books.
Tips
When it comes to encouraging pupils to read, these ideas are a good place to start:
• Consult pupils about what they want to see in the library • Sign up for library and publishers’ newsletters
• Get magazines and audio books as well as print books • Create reading spaces inside and outside the building • Train pupil librarians so they can spread the message and share their love of reading
Not every school has a dedicated librarian or is as closely allied to its local communities. But Dorrington’s story shows what schools can do to nurture a love of reading in its pupils.
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