Library renovation

The National Year of Reading 2026 is a UK-wide campaign aimed at reigniting a love of reading and making it a regular part of everyday life.

As a school we wanted to show how much we value reading for pleasure, but we had a problem.....our library. It was 25 years old and starting to look its age. We got together and came up with lots of ideas regarding student engagement, and how we could revamp the existing space. 

We started small. We thought of making the library space more comfortable; changing the layout of books on the shelves; adding posters to inspire reading; perhaps wall art to reflect the Osborne tree; adding in more book signs to make book location easier; removing tables and  chairs to reflect the space as a relaxing space rather than a work one and removing old and damaged stock.

But small was not going to work for us - we needed a BIG change! We met with lots of library designers and eventually chose one that we felt our young people deserved. It had different seating options, a whole new way of shelving books face out more, and an interesting use of space. And as for the colour scheme! We chose teal and purple (inadvertently channelling Wimbledon.) To top it all off.......we put a tree in the middle of the space!

The library opened on Thursday 17th September, and there has been so much positive feedback from the young people and the staff. We are seeing a greater engagement already in sitting and looking at a book, either on their own or with a friend. 

We LOVE our new library and we hope you get to see it too this year. 

Lynne Williams (Librarian) and Sonia White (Headteacher)