The Hyndburn Academy in Rishton receives library donation

The Hyndburn Academy in Rishton is the first senior school to be awarded funding and was one of more than 650 schools to apply.

The scheme said school libraries are facing a chronic lack of investment, with the most disadvantaged communities most affected.

The Hyndburn Academy in Blackburn was awarded £1,000 by LoveReading4Kids (Image: The Hyndburn Academy)

They added one in eight primary schools in England do not have a library, and this jumps to one in four schools with a higher proportion of children on free school meals.

In the school’s application, Victoria Rush, director of business, said: “Reading and oracy is a priority for The Hyndburn Academy. We are a school in an area of high deprivation and therefore we want to ensure we give all our students at The Hyndburn Academy the opportunity to read both for study and pleasure.

“We have created a new library for students, but having additional funds to purchase some new books would be amazing.”

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Upon being awarded the funding, Lewis Ware, an English teacher at the school, supported students in selecting a wide variety of books.

He said: “Our library stock needed a refresh and so it is fantastic to be able to offer our students access to so many new and exciting books.

“When we were given the news of the funding, Anne-Marie – our school librarian – and I spoke to the pupils about any preferences they had for adding to the library catalogue.

“Thank you to LoveReading4Kids for their kind donation. The students are so eager to read our new stock and hopefully, this will help to create a real buzz around the school to encourage students to immerse themselves in their reading.’’

The money was used to purchase new books for the library (Image: The Hyndburn Academy)

Students selected a range of books for different ages and reading abilities, with many popular authors and titles included, such as Michael Morpurgo, Heartstopper, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates, and David Walliams.

LoveReading4Kids content manager Charlotte Walker visited the excited pupils to observe and enjoy the delivery of the books.

She said: ‘’The newly delivered boxes of books were placed in the middle of the new library when I arrived, and the children were excited to unpack them. They all dived in, a bit like Christmas morning; it was fun to watch. They were all really thrilled with the delivery.”