A school library which has been closed for 18 months has finally reopened its doors – and has become a “magical” haven for dozens of book-loving students.
The room, at Shirebrook Academy in Common Lane, has finally been given a new lease of life following the appointment of a new school librarian and reading champion, Bethany Shaw, who has wasted no time in putting the room back into use.
What had become used as a temporary classroom is now a welcoming reading space, thanks to new bean bags, soft coloured lighting and a newly stocked bookshelves with must-read titles.
Picture shows: From left, Year Seven student Erin Watkinson, Bethany Shaw, librarian and reading champion, Kaley Macis-Riley, Head of English and Whole School Literacy Lead at Shirebrook Academy and Harley Bown settle down with a good book in the school’s library, which has reopened after 18 months.
And Bethany, who previously worked as a lighting, sound and video technician at Nottingham Playhouse, says students from across the school are taking full advantage, with many youngsters who sought solace in reading during lockdown enjoying finding new books and stories to explore.
She said: “I’m a huge reader myself and that’s been a blessing for me, especially when I was furloughed during lockdown and I was never without a book in my hand.
“I know that a lot of the students read a lot during lockdown too and that many of them have come back to school wanting to read more. They’ve had a wait a while until we reopened the library, which took a bit of work until we got it looking how we wanted it to look.
“We get about 30 to 40 students in the library every lunchtime, which is wonderful. They can come in here to relax, read and talk if they want – it’s not the kind of library where we go round telling everyone to be quiet all the time!”
One student who is enjoying the library is Erin Watkinson, 11, who is an avid reader and enjoys settling down with a book there every lunch time.
She said: “I do a lot of reading and so the library is a magical and happy place to be for me.
“I only joined the school last year and I found it hard when there wasn’t anywhere like this to relax during break-time, so it’s really nice to be able to come here.”
Fellow Year Seven student Harley Bown added: “I really like reading Minecraft books and the library is really unique, because it has bean bags where you can relax and read at lunchtime.”
Kaley Macis-Riley, Head of English and Whole School Literacy Lead at Shirebrook Academy, said: “It’s fantastic to see how, after all Bethany’s hard work, the school library is open again and that students have wasted no time in making full use of it.
“We had continued to promote reading and make books available during the time the library was closed but having Bethany and her ideas on board will make reading even more popular and help to stimulate our students’ imaginations.”
ENDS
Shirebrook Academy is based in Common Lane, Shirebrook. It has 840 students and has particular strengths in personal development, careers and employability. In 2018 the school came second in the British Chamber of Commerce Education Partnership Award and qualified for the finals as East Midlands Regional winners.
In May 2017 Shirebrook Academy joined Aston Community Education Trust (ACET), benefitting from the efficiencies to be gained from high quality centralised services and the challenge and support of ACET’s School Improvement Team.
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