Almost three-quarters of schools cut library provision through pandemic

Schools in the UK are taking money out of their library budgets because of Covid-19, according to a new survey carried out by the charity Read for Good.

For the survey Read for Good spoke to 227 schools in the UK (169 primary, 34 secondary and 24 “other”) and nearly 75% of the schools surveyed answered “yes” or “partly” when asked if they had diverted resources and money away from their library budgets during the pandemic.

A quarter of schools have used library budgets to replace lost textbooks over recent months, and 67% said they had fewer choices to offer pupils because they had to quarantine stock.

A massive 81% of respondents said they did not have a separate “reading for pleasure” budget, and 61% said their book budget had shrunk over recent years, with just over half (51%) saying the pandemic meant there was an even smaller budget for books. Only a tiny amount of the schools surveyed (0.4%) said the pandemic had no real impact on library provision.

When asked for their views on how the pandemic is affecting book budgets, one school said: “Our stock is very out of date, apart from the books teachers are buying with their own money and donating to the library. Our school is very diverse and has wide-ranging needs.”

Another one commented: “Limited stock and the necessity to provide every student with a book at their level means often they are being given old, outdated and pretty dull books. I could cry sometimes handing over a book that I wouldn’t usually even give shelf-space to. How can students discover the joy of reading when they aren’t accessing the amazing books and comics being produced today?”

Another respondent said their school had lost 800 titles since the first lockdown in March 2020, as a result of pupils taking books home and not being in school to bring them back.

Read for Good chief executive Justine Daniels (pictured left) said: “The evidence is that children who find the books they love to read when they are young are more likely to become fluent readers, identify as a ‘reader’ and go on to develop a lifelong love of reading that is truly transformational—from educational outcomes to social mobility, building empathy and emotional wellbeing.”

Daniels added: “We are worried that this generation, more than any other, will struggle to access the brilliant books and comics that could hook them into reading, even during this golden age of children’s literature. And even though focusing on reading for fun is a proven way of narrowing the attainment gap as schools recover from lost teaching time, our research highlights a lack of appealing books to support that mission.”

Read for Good this month donated £1,000 bundles of books and comics to 50 schools via its Brilliant Box of Books initiative, thanks to donations from a variety of publishers and a grant from the Siobhan Dowd Trust. Each box contained £350-worth of books and £650 of comics.

The charity is currently looking for funding to deliver a longer-term programme and fill the stock gap in schools.