At St Julian’s Primary School, reading has always been something we value deeply. Books open doors to imagination, knowledge and opportunity. Today was a particularly special day for our school community as we officially opened our brand-new library cabin — and we couldn’t have chosen a better day to do it than World Book Day.
Closure of Council Library
Earlier this year, the council library next door to the school sadly closed. Many of our children were disappointed to hear the news. Members of our Pupil Parliament and other pupils even wrote thoughtful letters campaigning for the library to remain open.
Unfortunately, the difficult reality was that the library simply did not have enough regular visitors to justify keeping it open.
Rather than giving up, our children decided to turn their disappointment into action. They began campaigning for a new library on our own school site so that books could remain at the heart of our school community.
Previously, our school library was a very small cupboard-sized space inside the building. It served us well, but it was clear that if we were serious about promoting reading, we needed something bigger and better.
Building Our New Library
At the end of the last academic year, a new library cabin was delivered onto our playground.
Since then, it has been a true whole-school effort to bring it to life.
Our caretaker and staff have worked hard to build the bookshelves, transforming the space into a welcoming reading environment. Many books from the old library were moved across, and parents kindly donated additional titles to help grow the collection.
We also asked the children themselves to recommend their favourite books, and the school purchased many of these so that the library reflects what our pupils truly enjoy reading.
Groups of children then worked alongside Mrs Walshe to carefully catalogue all of the books into our online library system. This means families can now browse our library catalogue directly through the school website to see all of the books we have available.
A Perfect Day to Open
We felt that World Book Day would be the perfect moment to officially open the new library.
After lunch, our junior children gathered on the playground along with governors and special guests, including Councillor Davies, the Deputy Leader of Newport City Council with responsibility for schools and education.
The event began beautifully with Harrison and Jacob performing piano music, setting a lovely atmosphere for the celebration.
Meanwhile, Mrs Dennis and members of the cookery club had been busy baking delicious Welsh cakes for our visitors to enjoy.
Celebrating the Joy of Reading
Mr Mansfield opened the event by talking about the importance of reading. Even in today’s digital age, there is still something very special about holding a book in your hands and getting lost in a story.
He explained that the new library will be used by classes and different groups of learners throughout the school day. It will also open on certain days after school, allowing children to borrow books to take home and enjoy.
Inside the library, children will find not only shelves full of books, but also some exciting reading technology. There is a Yoto Player, allowing children to listen to stories using Yoto cards, as well as two devices running Microsoft Reading Coach where children can practise and develop their reading skills.
Councillor Davies then spoke to the children about her own love of reading, particularly when she was young, and shared a little about her role working for the council.
The celebration continued with a wonderful performance from Charlotte and Ivy, who sang a song from Matilda the Musical, accompanied on the piano by Mr Mansfield.
Bringing the Library to Every Classroom
After the outdoor celebration, the classes returned inside the school building.
From inside the library cabin, we live-streamed a demonstration to every classroom so that children could see exactly how the new library will work.
During the live stream we showed pupils:
How to search for books in the catalogue How the books are organised on the shelves How to check out a book How to use the Yoto Player and story cards How to practise reading with Microsoft Reading Coach
Each class watched the live stream together so that everyone understands how the library cabin will be used.
Looking Ahead
We are incredibly excited to see the library come to life over the coming weeks as children begin borrowing books and discovering new stories.
Perhaps most importantly, we hope the library encourages children to swap a little screen time for reading time, developing a lifelong love of books.
Our new library cabin is more than just a building — it represents the voices of our pupils, the support of our community, and our shared belief that reading matters.
We can’t wait to see where the next story takes our children. 📖
