New library open at St Barnabas CE School, Leeman Road, York

The school council at St Barnabas CE Primary School in Leeman Road have opened their new school community library and reading hub.

They recognised that children in the school needed a space in their day to be quiet, rest and reflect and took this matter to the senior leadership team and governors.

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St Barnabas when it first opened

The school has grown significantly this year welcoming students from many different countries and backgrounds. This has been both a delight and challenge for the school as they look to support all the different languages and experiences of education these young people have had. The school council identified that one thing all children in the school could share was reading and a good story.

The children have been enjoying the new facility (Image: Pathfinder)

The senior leadership and governors in the school were keen to help achieve the ambitions of the pupils. However, the costs involved in implementing a project like this were a real barrier. So, the school and the pupils reached out to their community for support.

The school were rewarded by connecting with several fantastic local partners who have helped them kit out the space. The Recycle Project kindly donated some fantastic furniture and soft furnishings to help create reading nooks. The National Railway Museum also kindly donated some shelving to be used for displaying books. Finally, the Blue House Bookshop gifted the school and library project a parcel of books on the environment as part of their Green Hub Books project.

The library opened at the start of the month (Image: Pathfinder)

The school council officially opened the library at the beginning of July and each class will have a time in the space each week to explore reading individually and as a class. 

Head teacher, Karen Boardman said: “The children spoke so passionately to us about needing a sanctuary in the busy school day. The library is not only a great tool for encouraging reading as part of the curriculum but also for many of our pupils to find a moment of solace and reflection in amongst all the busy activities of a school day.”

Chair of Governors, Anne Williamson said: “We’ve been inspired by how the children have directed the school so positively and have taken responsibility for the space and the wellbeing of other pupils in ensuring the library project was completed before the end of term.”

Now the library is open the school would like to be able to share the space with their local community and encourage parents and carers to enjoy reading with their children. The school is looking for further community partners who think they may be help develop the space and support them in introducing a digital system to record book usage and share the books beyond the library. If you’re interested in helping the school, please email office@stb.pmat.academy.

The school would like to share the space with the local community (Image: Pathfinder)