Library Corner is a little space for school librarians to share what’s happening in their libraries!

The value of libraries and reading for pleasure cannot be overstated and we know school librarians are the key to making the very most of library spaces.

Many thanks to this month’s librarian Lauren Niland from Highgate School.

We are a busy co-educational school in North London, with 1300 pupils between the ages of 11-18. Throughout the week, we see all of Y7-9 for library lessons, as well as hosting book clubs, Sign Language club, research classes, and being used by sixth form pupils for study periods. While it is great being so busy and getting to know so many of the pupils, it does mean that sometimes we go for the easy option and turn things over to the pupils to come up with our displays!

One of the things that has worked brilliantly for us this year is having a “Weekly Question” – we write a question on a big sheet of paper and leave it on the Library desk with coloured pens and pencils for pupils to answer whenever they pass by and see it. We then create displays based on the answers. (This was inspired by one of Lucas Maxwell’s tips for Open Days, so thank you Lucas!)

The beauty of this is that is very much low to no pressure – we have seen pupils who we don’t traditionally think of as “readers” writing books down (as well as the holy grail of readers, Y10 and Y11 boys) and we have ended up with some great book recommendations and data on what is currently popular.

Some of our questions this term have included:

Best book you read over the summer?

Favourite book characters?

What should I read next?

Favourite cosy / comfort reads?

(No matter what question we ask, murder mysteries always figure very highly!

The Library in its current iteration opened officially in 2013, after a renovation of what used to be “Big School.” This means that pupils get to read and work in a beautiful library with pleasingly Victorian Gothic vibes (perhaps explaining the popularity of murder mysteries here) and we are now located in a central part of the school site (the old library was not nearly as accessible). However, it also means that we are somewhat limited in our display space. The walls are covered with wooden panels featuring classes and pupils from previous generations, some of whom still pop in to see their names, so we don’t want to cover them up.

All of this is to say: every year in the second half of this term in the run-up to the holidays, we hold decoration making activities at break-times and it is usually one of the most popular activities we do! We use old and withdrawn books that are beyond repair to make snowflakes, wreaths, chains etc and let the pupils (literally) paper the library with them. Lots of our pupils are not Christian or celebrate other holidays other than Christmas so their decorations can be whatever they want. It’s a really lovely, jolly thing to do this time of year, and really helps with relaxation and mindfulness when everyone is feeling a bit tired.

We usually find some instructions or tutorials online, but our pupils are so creative (and really enjoy making their mark on the library!) that generally they are the ones teaching us how to craft.