Writers join forces to call for reinstatement of primary school library fund

Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn with Catherine McAuley NS puplis Chloe Priest and Dylan Pedreschi, on left, and Jack Carroll, on right, raise their voices for the reinstatement of the school library fund in Budget 2022.

A new campaign backed by some of the country's major writers has called for the reinstatement of the primary school library fund, first cut in the economic crash and never restored.

The campaign, launched today by Children’s Books Ireland, has the backing of the current Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn and all of her five predecessors — Siobhán Parkinson, Niamh Sharkey, Eoin Colfer, PJ Lynch, and Sarah Crossan.

The fund was previously used to provide new books for libraries in schools throughout the country but was scrapped in 2008.

Children's Books Ireland CEO Elaina Ryan said: "Reading has the power to change children’s lives for the better. That is why the Budget previously included grant funding for primary schools to keep their libraries stocked.

"However, this grant was cut in 2008 and has never been restored. That was almost 15 years ago. 

"As a result, fewer children have ready access to excellent, modern books. Many schools have had to rely on donations to provide an essential resource."

Astonishingly, new schools are being built with a library space provided but no funding to fill it.

Children’s Books Ireland said that allocating just €10 for every primary school child in the country to help schools buy books for their libraries — including audiobooks and picturebooks — would mean a Budget 2022 allocation of only €5.68m, what it called a modest investment which could open up a lifetime of possibility and excitement for children.

Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn said: "As a child, the school library was my lifeline, my gateway to another world — a world of knowledge and imagination, of freedom and fun. 

"Books changed my life and made me the person I am today. All children have the right to have access to this world, to the gift of reading for pleasure. 

"All children have the right to see themselves, their lives and culture reflected in a book."

We need to give every child the right and opportunity to read. 

"If we care about the future of our children we need to see the immediate reinstatement of the school library fund," Ms Ní Ghlinn said.

Elaina Ryan said school libraries should be for every child and that last year Children’s Books Ireland had almost 400 applications for its school library donation project, 70% of which came from non-DEIS schools.

She said the evidence suggests that among nine-and-13-year-olds, girls from working-class backgrounds are as likely as, or even more likely than, middle-class boys to read every day.