It Was My First Time In A Bookshop: Churchill Community College Receives Book Buying Funding

Pupils from Churchill Community College visited independent bookshop, The Bound in Whitley Bay in April to buy new books for their library!

Students from Years 7 and 8 joined their Librarian Lynne Keenan for a book buying trip, thanks to a £500 grant from the Siobhan Dowd Trust, awarded by the SLA. The school also received a generous donation from an anonymous high-profile North East celebrity, who donated their recent event fee to a local school library in need of support.

We're so happy to share these pupil quotes about the experience, which reflect the significance of empowering young people to choose their own reading material, the joy that can be found in choosing and reading a book, and the power of approaching reading and book selection as a communal activity:

"The book store visit was completely new to me. It was a nice way to spend the morning. I felt free being able to choose books that I think me and people like me will enjoy reading."

"It was my first time in a bookshop but the atmosphere was brilliant."

"The trip to the bookshop was great fun. Being there and picking books for everyone was interesting. Overall I loved picking books and I hope people realise how much fun reading is."

"It was nice selecting books for the school library so that others can find books that they enjoy to read at school."

St Paul's Catholic High School will visit Chorlton Bookshop in Manchester next month, to spend their recently awarded grant - we can't wait to see which books their pupils choose! If you'd like to give your pupils the same experience, you can apply for funding now. Applications are open to SLA members until July 2025. 

The Siobhan Dowd Trust works to give all young people the opportunity to read and enjoy literature.