Royal recognition for reading support

On Thursday 18 May, our colleagues joined Her Majesty Queen Camilla and the National Literacy Trust to celebrate the launch of the Coronation Libraries initiative.

OUP is part of the Primary School Libraries Alliance (PSLA), a group of organizations working to build and transform libraries in primary schools in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK. Part of the campaign is to create 50 Coronation Libraries in primary schools where children are least likely to have books at home.

“For many of the children attending, books offer an escape from sometimes difficult lives and often the only place where they can access books is in the school library”

Her Majesty the Queen visited Shirehampton Primary School in Bristol to officially open their new library in her role as patron of the National Literacy Trust. This was her first solo engagement since the Coronation. As part of the day, children from different schools supported through the scheme attended a dream library workshop where they were able to create their own library, including children from Dashwood Academy in Banbury and St Frideswide Primary School in Oxford, two of our Raise a Reader schools.

Raise a Reader recognized

Andrea Quincey, OUP’s Product Director — Primary Literacy in the UK, represented OUP at the event. We were introduced to Her Majesty in recognition of our contribution to the PSLA campaign, including our Raise a Reader Oxfordshire programme.

Andrea said:

“It was such a privilege to be a part of this amazing day, celebrating the joy of reading and the opening of the first Coronation Library. For many of the children attending, books offer an escape from sometimes difficult lives and often the only place where they can access books is in the school library. That’s why the Primary School Library Alliance is such an important initiative, and why we should all be proud of the role OUP plays in supporting it.”

We are currently supporting 10 schools in the region of our Oxford office. They receive a donation of 500 books each, a subscription to Oxford Reading Buddy, and soft furnishings in order for the schools to create their own dedicated reading spaces.

The new libraries officially opened last term and we’ve also hosted an exciting range of author events for all the participating schools. We also hosted a specialist in-person training day for all the teachers involved, and offer ongoing support to help the schools develop effective whole-school reading strategies.

You can find out more about OUP’s Raise a Reader campaign here.