Cressida Cowell warns of ‘vast inequality’ in provision of primary school libraries

Often it’s the children who need books most that are in schools unable to provide them, Sam Hancock finds

Boris Johnson speaks to a primary school student onboard a bus library during a visit to St Mary’s CE Primary School last month in Stoke-on-Trent (Getty)

There is “vast inequality” in Britain’s primary school library system, children’s laureate Cressida Cowell has said.

The author, known for books including the hugely popular How to Train Your Dragon series, wrote in an open letter to the government that the lack of access to libraries means millions of children – particularly those from the poorest communities, worst-hit by Covid – are missing out on the opportunity to become a “reader for pleasure”.

Co-signed by former Laureates, including Sir Quentin Blake, the letter asks Boris Johnson to consider ring-fencing a yearly investment of £100m to help children whose future “lies in the balance”.

“It is heartbreaking to see just how unevenly this fundamental opportunity is distributed,” Ms Cowell said, warning of the “stark, worrying and urgent” need there is for ministers to increase funding to primary school libraries across the country.

“The devastating impact on the most disadvantaged school children is not going to be remedied with a quick fix. We must properly invest in their future at this pivotal moment.”

Ms Cowell also said the government had an opportunity to “help reverse the spiralling inequality in education” by putting primary school libraries “at the heart of our long-term response to the pandemic” through investing more money in them.

Using the 2013 PE and sport premium – which is allocated to primary schools and ring-fenced to improve physical education – as a point of comparison, Ms Cowell asked ministers if the “opportunity to become a reader for pleasure” is not “just as important”.

“How is it fair that some children are being given this immeasurable advantage in life, but stark book poverty means many more are denied this same chance to change their future?” she said.

“So often the children who need books the most are in schools that cannot provide them with even an adequate school library, let alone a good one.

“In 2019, the Great School Libraries report found a lack of space, resource and expertise, and that libraries are deteriorating. Meanwhile, every prison has a statutory library but one in eight primary schools has no library space at all.”

Ms Cowell said that as the government looks for practical solutions for problems caused by the pandemic, it makes sense to place primary school libraries at the heart of “our long-term education recovery”.

“It would change lives, and level up this country,” she added.

In the letter, Ms Cowell also announced plans for a new initiative, called Life-changing Libraries, which aims to boost the impact a well-resourced primary school library can have on a child.

Over the course of a year, six primary schools across England – all of which have at least 25 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals – will be helped to develop a “reading for pleasure” culture.

A bespoke library space will be created by charity BookTrust in each of the six schools and stocked with a specially-curated book list of approximately 1,000 titles.

Staff will be provided with professional training and mentoring from specialists at the School Library Association, as part of a two year-membership.

The open letter, sent by Ms Cowell, went to great lengths to stress that children whose parents cannot afford books at home are most at risk of missing out.

In November last year, independent charity the National Literacy Trust compiled a report on the pandemic’s effect on a child’s educational development.

It concluded that, while a “positive home learning environment” has the potential to help children overcome some of the disadvantages of growing up in poverty, “parents from low-income backgrounds are likely to spend less time reading and playing with their children and take their children to fewer out-of-home activities.

Melanie Crew, the charity’s evidence and policy manager, additionally wrote in the review that kids growing up in low-income households “on average hear far fewer words and are exposed to a more limited vocabulary than those in middle- and higher-income homes”.

Elsewhere, examination of United Nations (UN) data last month revealed that just over 16 per cent (11.5 million) of the world’s 70 million children set to turn 10 this year could be unable to read as a direct result of the impact on education that Covid has had.

The analysis – carried out by anti-poverty One Campaign – was based on official “learning poverty” figures from the World Bank and UNESCO, and population data from the UN. It also showed a 17 per cent rise in the numbers of children who will not learn to read at all, compared with the previous year, which, again, is thought to be due to coronavirus.

Additional reporting by PA