Celebrating the first of 25 amazing Coronation libraries

On Wednesday 1 November, we celebrated the opening of the first of 25 Coronation primary school libraries, at a special event at Harris Primary Academy Croydon.

The school’s library has been completely transformed as part of a partnership between the National Literacy Trust and Bloomberg, and joining us for the celebration were staff and pupils from the school, and special guest Caroline Rowley, Head of Corporate Philanthropy Europe, Bloomberg.

They were joined by famous children’s author duo Greg James and Chris Smith, who led workshops for the children, where they shared their top tips for young budding writers, answered everyone’s questions and shared their love of reading and writing.

The library has been opened as part of the Coronation Libraries programme. A collaboration between the National Literacy Trust and Bloomberg, the programme will see 25 Coronation Libraries opened this academic year – 20 in Islington and five in Croydon – which will bring the joy of reading to more than 8,000 primary school children across the two boroughs.

Announced by Her Majesty Queen Camilla in May this year, the Coronation Libraries programme seeks to create reading spaces filled with age-appropriate and diverse books to inspire a life-long love of reading. Harris Primary Academy Croydon’s library is the first to open as part of the programme and the pupils can’t wait to start exploring the new reading space. One of the children, Year 6 pupil Frankie said:

“I am very excited for the new school library. I love reading and I’m even my class librarian. It looks amazing and I cannot wait!”

Verity Lambert-Dale, Principal of Harris Primary Academy Croydon, said: “It’s vital that our pupils develop strong literary skills so they can excel across the curriculum and fully enjoy the very best of English literature. Our new Coronation Library provides the perfect environment to promote our pupils’ reading skills. As well as being a wonderful place to learn, the library is fully equipped with some superb books and our pupils have thoroughly enjoyed browsing the shelves. We are very grateful to the National Literacy Trust and Bloomberg for making our library a reality and I have every confidence that it will benefit our school’s pupils for generations to come.”

Jonathan Douglas CBE, CEO at the National Literacy Trust said: “We know how important it is for children at primary school to have access to a dedicated reading space, full of books that they want to pick of the shelf. Reading for pleasure benefits children’s well-being, academic performance and their chances of being successful in life. Thanks to Bloomberg, over 8,000 pupils across Croydon and Islington will have the opportunity to enjoy their new libraries this year and go on to develop a life-long love of reading.”

Caroline Rowley, Head of Corporate Philanthropy Europe, Bloomberg said: “At Bloomberg, we understand the importance that access to books and a joy of reading can have on a child's education and how this in turn impacts social mobility. That is why we are proud to support the Coronation Libraries programme and excited to see reading spaces created in schools including Harris Primary Academy Croydon.”

Bloomberg is also a flagship member of the Primary School Library Alliance. Its Libraries for Primaries campaign is transforming 1,000 primary school libraries by 2025 and raising to help address the chronic lack of investment in primary school libraries across the UK.