Co-founded in 2021 by the National Literacy Trust and Penguin Books, the Libraries for Primaries campaign aims to ensure every UK primary school has the resources, training and book stock to embed libraries at the heart of school reading culture.
This report covers findings from the 2024-25 programme evaluation and shows that:
- Participating teachers engaged in a range of professional development opportunities that enhanced their understanding and confidence in creating and maintaining engaging library environments and supporting reading for pleasure.
- Teachers rating their school’s reading for pleasure provision as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ went from 33% before to 96% after taking part in the programme.
Revisiting schools a one year later showed that:
- Most schools sustained or expanded initiatives around library development and nearly 9 in 10 (87%) teachers reported continued improvements in school-wide reading for pleasure.
- 2 in 3 (66.3%) children said that they enjoyed reading more and read more often than they did a year ago.
- Children most in need of support made meaningful improvements in standardised reading tests, with 44% progressing to a higher level of performance.
Overall, the evaluation demonstrates the short- and long-term impact of investing in school libraries and their crucial role in fostering reading for pleasure.