The Showroom

Over 60,000 books spread over two floors – arranged by subject and key stage.

The Heath Books’ Showroom brings back the joy of choosing books, allowing you to read and handle books before you buy them. Take your time browsing and selecting the books you need from over 60,000 titles covering Early Years to Sixth Form, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee whilst you pore over the wide range of titles.

  • Like our website, the selection of books has been curated with schools in mind. We personally categorise each and every book into subject area and readership level.
  • We offer impartial advice,  recommending books on merit alone. Our Showroom represents a wide range of publishers and we have no affiliation to one over another.
  • No sales pitches or hard sells – our approach is to work out exactly what you’re looking for and find books that would best meet your needs and budget.

What’s in Our Showroom?

Over 60,000 different books spread over two floors – arranged by subject and Key Stage. With books covering ages 3-18, there’s something to suit everyone!

What's Inside?

Meet the Team

With over 60 years combined experience our Showroom team know their books! We’re ready to help find you the perfect resources for your school.

Meet the Team

How We Can Help

Bespoke collections, help with reading schemes, pupil visits, library consultancy, INSET – Find out all of the services we provide schools and educators.

How We Can Help

What’s in Our Showroom?

Meet the Showroom Team

Jamila | Showroom Manager

Get in touch with her if…

You’re looking for advice on age appropriate titles on every (yes, every) subject – she chooses what goes into our Showroom.

Jamila is in with the publishers so she knows what’s coming soon, what’s consistently popular and what’s perfect for those readers that are ridiculously interested in something really obscure. She also loves spreadsheets (and can get them to obey her) and cats.

Mel | Assistant Showroom Manager

Get in touch with her if…

You want book selections the easy way – she puts together brilliant lists from the vaguest of starts.

Mel’s the collections queen, send her a budget, an age range and a theme or two and you’ll get a bespoke quote that includes all the things you thought might suit and a few ‘aha books’ that are sure to encourage even the most reluctant readers. She also loves wine (who doesn’t!) and reminiscing about 90’s music videos.

Monica | Events Co-ordinator

Get in touch with her if…

You’d like to bring yourself or your students to the Showroom or are interested in hosting an Author Event at your school.

Monica knows the Showroom is super inspiring for adults and children alike, so if you’d like to share that joy that comes from taking time to physically peruse books, let her help. She also loves hypothetical questions (to the point of annoyance) and handstands.

Jackie | Library Consultant

Get in touch with her if…

You need help setting up or expanding or updating your school library.

Jackie has 30+ years’ experience as both a school librarian and a Showroom consultant and knows how to make creating a library not only stress free but inspiring. She also loves walking up hills (even when it’s raining) and being creative.

Carolyn | Reading Schemes Expert

Get in touch with her if…

You’d like reading schemes to be simpler.

Carolyn has nearly 20+ years’ experience working with reading schemes, Reading Recovery and Accelerated Reader. She can explain the benefits of each of the schemes and will help you create a collection that will best suit your students as they learn both the mechanics of reading and the joy being a confident reader will bring.

How We Can Help

With our expert Showroom team on hand, finding the books you need can be simple and enjoyable – whether you’re looking for banded reading schemes, recently published fiction, age-specific non-fiction, or just trying to decide which textbooks you’ll need next school year!

Bespoke Collections

Unable to visit the Showroom? Researching and finding relevant, and importantly, current books to suit classroom topics can be time consuming and difficult.

While there are many pre-made packs available on the market, are you really getting the best value for money if the books aren’t exactly what you’re looking for?

Let us help make things simple. We’ll not only pick the best books for you, but offer you excellent discounts too.

  • We have years of experience in preparing tailored book lists and use make good use of our team’s knowledge of available and upcoming books to prepare a customized list of quality titles.
  • Having access to all the books in the Showroom means we know the books we recommend and are best placed to advise on the suitability of content – something that can be hard to judge from a cover.
  • We love a challenge – so if there’s a particularly niche subject area you’re looking for, give us a try!

Tell us what you’re looking for – topic, type of book, age range and budget – and we’ll do all the hard work for you!

Request a Custom List

Help with Reading Schemes

With over 10 main schemes, numerous strands within these, and at least 7,000 books to choose from, how do you work out which reading scheme is right for your students? 

All the schemes are available to view in the Showroom so you can see the variety of styles and layouts. Our experienced staff are on hand to advise you how the levelling varies from one publisher to another and help work out how a particular scheme fits in with any existing banding you currently use in your school.

Pupil Visits & Love of Reading Reward Days

We love books and want to share our love of reading with all our Showroom visitors – especially students. The 2019 Ofsted Handbook mentions reading more than 20 times, spelling out what educators have always known – it’s imperative ‘reading is prioritised to allow pupils to access the full curriculum’.

What better way to encourage students’ love of books and reading than by letting them help choose the titles in their school libraries and classrooms?

  • Bring a group of students by appointment to have full/exclusive access to our Showroom, inviting their input to library or classroom choices
  • Our Love of Reading Reward Days allow for pupils to visit the Showroom to physically choose books for the library – great as a treat for library volunteers or to encourage reluctant readers.
  • Connect the visit to a specific group like student librarians, a reward class / school wide achievement, or reluctant readers
  • Receive help from our team finding specific titles, books to match a certain topic, or recommendations based on a previously enjoyed title.

Setting up a new Library & Library Consultancy

The challenge of setting up a new library or maintaining an existing one is an exciting but daunting task for any librarian. There are many aspects to consider – budget, space, furniture, shelving, displays, cataloguing, issue systems, and staffing – before you even think about choosing books!

This is where our library consultancy services come in. We offer:

  • An honest approach and impartial advice
  • On-going support after the initial library set-up
  • A personalised service with custom book selections to suit your school demographic and budget
  • A visit to assess the current library stock
  • Books supplied shelf-ready with all servicing fitted, so all you have to do is fill up the shelves!

Start building the best School Library for you by contacting us for an obligation free consultation.

Book a Consultation

Book Fairs

Book fairs are great way to:

  • Do something special to celebrate Book Week
  • Bring the bookshop experience to children who might not otherwise have the chance to visit one
  • Get students, staff and parents involved with the library

Whether you choose to sell books to students at a discounted price, use the proceeds to raise funds for the school or a charity, or even hold it on a Parent’s Evening for parents to choose books to donate to the library – the opportunities are endless.

Book Supply for Author Events

Are you looking for an author to visit your school?

Meeting an author, illustrator or poet in real life and hearing their passion for their work can ignite a life-long love of reading in children.

We can help arrange a visit and supply you with books on a sale or return basis to sell on the day.

Arrange an Author Event or Book Fair

The Sale Room

Everyone loves a bargain!

If you’re visiting our Showroom, be sure to visit our 5,000 book sale section with all books at half price or even less.

Full of ex-display copies, old editions and packs not listed on our website, it’s an excellent way of resourcing your library if you’re on a tight budget.

Training for Teachers and Librarians

We run training for teachers, librarians and trainee librarians throughout the year in conjunction with the SLA. Our courses are run by SLA certified instructors and have proved time and again a fantastic resource to Educational Institutions.

Courses we have run in the past include:

  • Bringing it Alive! Storytelling to Boost Literacy & Reading for Pleasure
  • Help, I’m in Charge of the Primary School Library!
  • Help, I’m in Charge of the Secondary School Library!
  • Reading Promotion Toolkit with Accelerated Reader (AR)

We’re open to suggestions for future courses – if there’s a course you want to attend, get in touch.

INSET Days & Librarian’s Meetings

Host your INSET day, librarians’ meeting, or teacher training at Heath Books’ Showroom and alongside the benefit of ongoing professional development, you can provide staff the time and opportunity to connect with one of the most valuable resources educators have – books.

Use of our meeting room is free of charge and provides you with access to our 60,000 title Showroom and experienced Showroom team. Complimentary tea and coffee are provided and more substantial refreshments, including catered meals, are available for a range of budgets.

Find Us

Heath Educational Books

Willow House, Willow Walk, Sutton SM3 9QQ

Monday – Friday 9:00 – 17:30 (Saturday openings by appointment)

0208 644 7788

Get in touch

Whether you’re looking to book in a visit, talk to us about your library, or just need some advice on banding for reading schemes; select your subject in the form below and we’ll get right back to you. If there’s a list you’d like to include, or anything else you’d like to give us, use the attachment button at the bottom of the form to send it along too.