Arts Council England funds second phase of the World of Stories ‘library transformation’ programme

A further 100 primary schools in disadvantaged communities will have their libraries developed through Arts Council England (ACE) investment into World of Stories, a programme that creates reading spaces in schools, as part of their partnership with the National Literacy Trust and the Libraries for Primaries campaign.

The new funding of £485,967 will impact approximately 28,000 students and help train 200 teachers, while Penguin Random House (PRH) has also committed an additional £160,000 to the programme.

This is the second investment from the Arts Council through National Lottery Project Grants, following an initial award of £901,117 in 2021.

The programme has helped transform 500 schools in disadvantaged communities to date. The expanded initiative will provide schools with a collection of 500 new books and free audiobooks. Teachers will also be given training and networking opportunities, while reading spaces will be fitted out with furniture and decorations.

This investment has been followed by the publication of new research by the National Literacy Trust, based on a survey of more than 76,000 UK children and young people, which revealed that only 34.6% 8 to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their free time.

The new phase of the programme involves a significant cross-publisher collaboration, with 29 publishers contributing titles to the school donations for the first time. Titles donated include The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S K Ali (Andersen Press), The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson (PRH), How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (Hachette), The Last Bear by Hannah Gold (HarperCollins) and Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman (Simon & Schuster).

“Children and young people’s enjoyment of reading is at an all-time low and the futures of a generation are being put at risk,” said Jonathan Douglas CBE, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust. “Access to a diverse range of books, provided to children in a welcoming space where there is expert help on hand to nurture a love of reading has never been more urgent. We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Arts Council England as we accelerate the growth and impact of our Libraries for Primaries campaign and ensure that every primary school in the UK has a dedicated library space by 2028.”

James Urquhart, interim director literature at ACE, added: “Reading is a foundational skill that brings joy, inspiration, empathy and entertainment as well as literacy and attainment skills; and books are highly portable and freely accessible in libraries. The report just published by the National Literacy Trust highlights the alarming decline in reading as a habit among young people and is an urgent call to prioritise reading for pleasure as an activity that is vital to the development of confident, enthusiastic readers.”