Championing your school library in the National Year of Reading

With its £10m pledge to fund a 'library for every primary', and £5m book fund for secondary school libraries, the government has put its backing firmly behind school libraries.  However, not all heads of schools recognise the transformative effect that a school library can have, so what can librarians do to convince them?

At the start of the National Year of Reading, ReadingZone asked Barbara Band, school library consultant and trainer, why librarians should play an active advocacy role for their school library, and how this can support their library in transforming students' lives:

"If librarians do not articulate their impact, challenge outdated perceptions and stereotypes,
and demonstrate their values in ways that resonate with school leaders and decision-makers,
there is no guarantee that anyone else will do so." Barbara Band

"We live in a world where perceived value is increasingly tied to a return on investment. In schools, that return is often reduced to exam results because they are easy to quantify and compare," writes Barbara Band. "Yet education has always been about far more than certificates at the end of a course; it exists to develop and nurture young people so they leave school not only academically qualified, but equipped with the skills, confidence and curiosity they need to thrive in work and society.

Advocacy is essential

This is where the school library sits - and where its value is often overlooked. School librarians do not deliver examined curriculum subjects and much of their contribution is therefore invisible in traditional accountancy systems. Their work in developing reading for pleasure and study, fostering information, digital and media literacy, and providing a safe, inclusive space that supports student wellbeing is rarely acknowledged and even more rarely measured in any meaningful way. And yet these contributions have a profound impact on individuals and on the wider school community.

Compounding this invisibility are the persistent misconceptions surrounding school librarianship. Too often, librarians are still perceived as book shelvers or supervisors whose primary role is to keep students quiet. When the complexity and professional skills of the role are misunderstood, it becomes clear why advocacy for school libraries is not optional but essential. If librarians do not articulate their impact, challenge outdated perceptions and stereotypes, and demonstrate their values in ways that resonate with school leaders and decision-makers, there is no guarantee that anyone else will do so.

Creating space for advocacy

Of course, librarians, like other school staff, are time poor, juggling competing priorities in busy school environments. I know, from experience, that the to-do list is never finished and most days it feels as if, for every task you cross off, two more are added. Shelves must be kept in order so resources can be found; if they are in a mess, how are students going to be able to find what they're looking for? New materials need to be processed and catalogued so they can be discovered and used; that's not going to happen if they stay in the stock cupboard. Collections must be weeded so students have access to current and relevant information for their learning needs.

These tasks are necessary but, on their own, they rarely demonstrate impact. This is why advocacy requires a shift in focus. By training and trusting pupil librarians to support administrative tasks, school librarians can create space to concentrate on work that clearly shows the difference they make, supported by both quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Change perceptions, influence decision-making

Advocacy is not a quick fix or one-off campaign. While many school librarians actively promote their collections and services, promotion alone is often passive, relying on stakeholders to engage. Advocacy, by contrast, is proactive and purposeful. Its aim is to change perceptions and influence decisions, and it requires librarians to understand their stakeholders, identify their needs, communicate through the right channels and use language that resonates. Most importantly, it requires evidence; clear demonstrations of impact, improvement and benefit.

In a school context, stakeholders include anyone who has an interest in, or influence over, the library. This typically includes headteachers and senior leaders, teachers, students, parents/carers and the governing body or trust. Each group views the library from a different perspective and values different outcomes.

Effective advocacy focuses of the needs of each of these groups, not just library activities. Senior leaders are usually concerned with attainment, accountability and school improvement policies. Teachers value support that aligns with curriculum goals, saves times, or enhances teaching and learning. Students respond to relevance, choice and a sense of belonging whilst parents may be most interested in reading for pleasure, equity of access, wellbeing and future readiness. Advocacy is strongest when the library's impact is linked to these priorities.

Advocacy also depends on using the right channels. Formal reports, improvement plans or data summaries may be most effective for leaders and governors while informal conversations, planning meetings or targeted emails may better reach teaching staff. Students may be engaged through assemblies, displays or student voice activities and parents through newsletters, websites or community events.

Demonstrating impact

Above all advocacy requires evidence. Clear, relevant demonstrations of impact move advocacy beyond opinion and into influence, and when evidence is framed in language that matters to stakeholders, it becomes a sustained strategic practice.

This evidence can take many forms. Loan statistics have their place but they only tell part of the story. Surveys, feedback, case studies and student voice can all reveal how the library makes a difference, what users value most and where provision can be refined. Used strategically, this evidence enables librarians to design more targeted services and to clearly articulate their contribution to school life. These ideas are explored in more depth in my book, Championing Your School Library: a practical guide to advocacy, marketing and promotion (Facet Publishing)

Without sustained advocacy - without relationship-building, stakeholder engagement, effective promotion and meaningful evidence of impact - school libraries risk becoming invisible. They may be seen as 'nice to have' rather than an essential part of the community, making them vulnerable to budget cuts, reduced opening hours or the replacement of qualified and experienced staff with cheaper, less-experienced alternatives.

This downward spiral often leads to underuse, which in turn reinforces misconceptions and further weakens the library's position. Effective advocacy can reverse this trajectory, supporting funding bids, strengthening understanding of the librarian's role and positioning the library as a central, indispensable element of a successful school.

Supporting reading for pleasure

This advocacy is particularly critical in 2026, designated by the Education Secretary as the National Year of Reading. With reading for pleasure in decline and literacy levels under pressure, school libraries have a vital role to play. If children and young people are to read, they must have access to materials they can genuinely connect with. For some, this will be novels; for others, it may be comics, magazines, graphic novels or non-fiction. A well-resourced school library offers all of these, carefully curated across a range of reading levels to support confident readers, reluctant readers and those who struggle.

Access, however, is about more than stock. Libraries need to be open when students can use them - ideally before and after school, and during breaks and lunchtimes - and students need time within the school day to browse, choose something they might enjoy and read. For many children and young people, home is not a place where reading happens regularly, making dedicated library lessons and reading-focused events and activities all the more important.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the expertise of a school librarian is transformative. A librarian who knows both the collection and the students can match the right reader with the right resource at the right time. These interactions create positive reading experiences that underpin reading for pleasure and lifelong engagement with books and information.

Review: Championing Your School Library: A Practical Guide to Advocacy, Marketing and Promotion - "Band shows that advocacy is not just essential but also eminently do-able, providing actionable strategies, essential tools and a passionate belief that school libraries make a difference which is infectious. She argues convincingly that taking action, however small, for your own library, has a ripple effect which helps shape the future for generations of students. It's a hard rallying cry to resist!"  Eileen Armstrong, school librarian