Children's laureate calls on government to preserve school libraries

The children’s laureate Chris Riddell, supported by a number of top authors, has called on the government to take action to preserve schools libraries.

In an open letter to Education Secretary Justine Greening, Riddell, author of Goth Girl, made a passionate plea for the Department for Education to better support school libraries, claiming that provision is ‘wildly inconsistent’ across the country, with many lacking the investment they need.

It reads: "I have seen personally, in my school visits up and down the country, how they promote reading for pleasure and in doing so, turn pupils into avid readers.

"I am deeply concerned that this role is not fully appreciated and, worse, is being undermined through lack of economic and intellectual investment.

"In recent months two major school library services closed in Dorset and Berkshire, and year after year the School Library Association loses members as school library provision shrinks through lack of funding."

The letter is backed by eight former children’s laureates, including Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and Quentin Blake and calls on Greening to ‘set out clear standards of library provision, and put into place the necessary funding’ to ensure that every school has a library service it can be proud of.