Around 50 children from 12 schools in County Durham attended our first ever Pupil Librarian Conference on Thursday 20 November at the city’s Gala Theatre.
The schools, which have all taken part in the World of Stories – part of the Libraries for Primaries initiative – were also treated to a surprise visit from award-winning children’s author, Jeff Kinney, who is currently on a global tour promoting his 20th book in the much-loved Wimpy Kid series – Partypooper.
Each school that takes part in Libraries for Primaries is encouraged to interview and appoint pupil librarians to support the running of their new school library. Since the start of the Libraries for Primaries campaign in 2021, thousands of pupil librarians have been trained and are now championing reading and their new libraries to everyone at the school.
These pupils, from primary schools across Durham, were then selected to be part of our inaugural Pupil Librarian conference, where they shared their library display and reading engagement ideas as part of a special ‘How to be an Amazing Pupil librarian' workshop session. After lunch, Jeff Kinney made a surprise entrance to the auditorium, after tricking the children into believing he was joining via remote video link. He was met with music, loud cheering, whistling and party streamers went flying – it was as if a famous rock star had crashed his own party! The pupils and their teachers joined in a number of games – winning the schools 100s of books and other prizes. It was a brilliant session where Jeff also talked openly about his journey as a cartoonist and author; how he developed his craft and how he became resilient in the face of failure.
Jeff Kinney told the pupil librarians:
“A school library is one of the first places a kid can really make their own choices. A kid can go in and pick out the thing that they like. We call it agency. You can make your own choices and a lot of the time, those choices that you make lead to interests, hobbies or even careers.”
Earlier the same morning, pupils at Seaham Trinity Primary School in Durham were also treated to a special appearance by Jeff, who is a long-standing supporter of the National Literacy Trust and advocate for its Libraries for Primaries campaign. Jeff’s Partypooper tour celebrates the power of books and these surprise visits from Jeff to National Literacy Trust partner schools and libraries in the UK, play a crucial role in supporting our mission to champion children’s books and grow a love of reading.
Jeff’s attendance at our events in Durham this November are just part of his ongoing advocacy for reading enjoyment and support of the National Literacy Trust. Over the summer, in partnership with Puffin and WHSmith, 50p was donated to the National Literacy Trust for every copy of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book bought at WHSmith Travel stores in the UK and Ireland – and over 40,000 copies were sold!
At a time when reading enjoyment and frequency among children and young people is at an all-time low, access to a diverse range of books in schools with a strong reading for pleasure culture is crucial for boosting children’s confidence and wellbeing, improving their reading skills and academic attainment.
Pupil librarians are reading ambassadors at their schools, bringing enthusiasm, creativity and dedication to their role. Appointing librarians also gives pupils a voice, the chance to make a valuable contribution towards embedding a reading culture. They develop knowledge, transferable skills and personal qualities, provide role models for other pupils and help raise the profile of the library.
Lucy Starbuck Braidley, Head of School Libraries at the National Literacy Trust, said:
“Appointing pupil librarians in a primary school is a wonderful way to develop pupil's leadership skills, literacy, and foster child-led community engagement in reading. When children are given opportunity to contribute to their library, it is often a transformative and empowering experience, creating a ripple effect in the school's wider reading for pleasure culture. This event has provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate pupil librarian's hard work as reading ambassadors at their school, develop a broad range of skills and inspire them to go even further."
"When children are given opportunity to contribute to their library, it is often a transformative and empowering experience, creating a ripple effect in the school's wider reading for pleasure culture."
Lucy Starbuck Braidley, Head of School Libraries at the National Literacy Trust
The National Year of Reading 2026 aims to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment among children, young people and adults and the Libraries for Primaries campaign is a critical intervention as part of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to help people of all ages (re)connect with reading - rediscovering its personal and social value in everyday life to boost skills, empathy and benefit wellbeing.