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Why school libraries matter
There is currently no legal requirement for secondary schools in Scotland to offer a school library. We need your help to change that story.
Why school libraries matter
Recent research highlights that school libraries play a vital role in supporting pupil wellbeing beyond academic achievement. However, the sector faces significant challenges, with declining budgets and staffing threatening their future impact. Scottish Book Trust has conducted independent research demonstrating how school librarians contribute to student welfare and created an advocacy kit to support libraries.
Librarians cultivate a lifechanging love of reading by understanding pupils' individual interests and matching them with appropriate books.
They make reading relevant by connecting literature to pupils' lives outside school, including their hobbies, interests and any current trends. This approach combats negative attitudes toward reading that often develop during teenage years.
Libraries also serve as safe spaces, particularly important during the difficult transition to secondary school and for pupils with additional learning needs or marginalised identities.
By supporting pupil autonomy and encouraging ownership over library activities, librarians help teenagers develop independence while deepening their own professional practice.
Libraries are also fun places to be!
For all these reasons and more, we need to make school libraries a legal requirement for all of Scotland’s secondary schools.
Scottish Book Trust is working closely with the School Library and Education Policy Group, the National Library of Scotland, Scottish Libraries and Information Council (SLIC) and CILIPS to champion Scotland’s school libraries. Following SLIC's launch of their vision statement, Securing the Future of Scotland's Libraries(this link will open in a new window), there is renewed support and guidance for policymakers to pursue a national vision for sustained, thriving library services.
Together, we are highlighting the crucial role school libraries play in learning and literacy across Scotland.
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