St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Heywood opens new library after community fundraising effort

Pupils at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Heywood have celebrated the opening of a new library after staff, families and supporters helped raise thousands of pounds to create the space.

The project was supported by a national reading initiative and has provided hundreds of new books for children across the school.

The new library was officially opened on Thursday, with pupils given the chance to explore the space and choose books from the collection.

School staff said the library had been years in the planning and was created through a combination of fundraising and external support.

Speaking at the launch, staff explained that around £9,500 had been raised to help bring the project to life.

The school also joined the Libraries for Primaries programme, which provided around 500 books as part of a national campaign to ensure every primary school has access to a dedicated library.

Mrs Morgan said the school had not had an official library for around a decade.

She said staff had been "fundraising like crazy" to make the project possible and described the opening as a major milestone for pupils.

The school worked with local bookshop owners to organise a pop-up bookshop, allowing every child to choose a book of their own.

Staff said pupils had also been involved in helping shape the new library by selecting books and contributing ideas for the space.

Headteacher Anthony Schilling praised the work behind the project and highlighted the effort made by staff.

He said staff had spent recent evenings preparing the library, organising books and creating displays before the opening.

Author Christopher Edge attended the launch and met pupils as they explored the new facility.

Speaking about the importance of reading, he said, "The world needs stories."

He encouraged children to see writing as something they could aspire to and said meeting a comic book creator when he was younger had helped him realise authors were ordinary people with careers in storytelling.

The new library includes reading areas and a wide range of titles for different age groups. Displays around the room feature staff recommendations and personal reflections on favourite books and reading.

School staff said they hope the library will become a welcoming space where children can develop a lifelong love of reading.