Sofas and Cats.

A day of thought and discussion. Ahh, it was so good not have a thought disturbed by "Miss? Can I take this book out/back/where's..../this printer's not working/I got 100% in my quiz can I have a sweet and an extra stamp?"

It was adult time to discuss creating a whole school reading culture.

Here's some scary stuff to contemplate.

Two out of five children lose interest in reading by the age of 11.
22% of children rarely or never read in their own time.
17% would be embarrassed if their friends saw them reading.
Around 16% of Adults in England can be described as "functionally illiterate".

Not a happy story.

It's a no brainer then that creating a whole school reading culture is essential if we are to turn this sad story around.

I've been thinking about how the school library is being used during breaks and lunchtimes. Yes, some kids come in to read, but by far the greater number of kids are using the PCs. Kids tell me that it's too noisy to read in the Library sometimes. This doesn't sit easy with me. We have 3 other ICT suites where computer work could be done.

So when I turned to my colleague Jane and said "I've been thinking, I might stop kids using the PCs in the library at breaks and lunchtimes and start promoting the library as a relaxing reading only environment", I was pleased to hear that she agreed with me.

I'd like to go a step further and remove 80% of the PCs and relocate them into classrooms, but I'll need to work on that cunning plan a bit before I suggest it to the Leadership Team.

And what would I do with all the extra space?

I fill it with sofas and cats, thus creating an inviting and relaxing reading environment.

The photo is of Philip Reeve, author of Mortal Engines and Goblins. I enjoyed his presentation and the reading he did of his latest book.

One of the delegates asked him to sign a copy of one of his books.
I asked him if I could take a photo to put up in the Library.

I'll post it in the Library as a way of explaining why I closed the Library today. The kids don't take kindly to the closure of the Library.