A bunch of mini bookworms have become ambassadors to their new school library and are pushing the message of diversity.
Cragside Primary School in High Heaton , Newcastle , has invested in a diverse range of books to help children ‘see themselves’ and to prepare them for what they will encounter in everyday life.
Excited Jahrad Rahman, 11, spends much of his time reading and has been chosen to be a student librarian.
“I am so excited to read all the new books and to visit the library every day,” he said.
Anya Scott, 11, is looking forward to reading in the peaceful hideaway. She said: "I like how cosy it is and it just feels like I'm at home and I'm happy with the inside."
Eleven-year-old Jack Milller could not believe how much the library has changed, he said: "It's changed so much. There are a lot of new books in the library that I have never seen before."
Head Teacher, Becky Johnson explains, “When looking at the old stock of books, one of the things we felt was missing was that we didn't feel it reflected the diversity of the community that we serve”
The refurbishment began after the school appealed to the PTFA who donated £500. The school also received support from Franks Carpets who kindly donated a new carpet and a local Heaton group donated money towards the new library stock.
Governor, Sue Walters who previously worked at Seven Stories set out to invest in books from different countries. She said, “Seeing yourself and everyone in your community reflected positively in the books you read helps to raise self -esteem, develops empathy and understanding, and supports good mental health.
Over the past year after taking over the library, Teacher, Rachel Frobisher has worked hard to help improve the diversity in their library.
She said, ‘It’s very powerful for a child to open a book and see themselves in a book rather than seeing something unrelated to them or something that they can't relate to”
The library named, Cragside Reading Forest, has been transformed from an old cloakroom to a magical forest themed hideaway. The idea behind the theme is to give pupils a ‘calm and cosy’ place to read that will inspire them to enjoy reading and hopefully take this away with them after leaving school.
Along with Jahrad, Anya and Jack selected pupils from the school have been chosen to be librarians at the Reading Forest.
Last Friday, the school ran a fair to celebrate Eid to show their support of their Muslim families.
Cragside Primary School is hoping in the future to use their library to help connect with their wider community and to help get parents more involved in their children's reading.
