Delivering subject content through nine life themes
Today – Thursday 7 March – is World Book Day across the UK and Ireland, an annual celebration of books, reading and all things literary. No surprise, then, that it is always a big day in any school calendar, with many schools, for example, encouraging children to dress up as a favourite character. This year’s theme is Read Your Way, a call to everyone to “let go of pressure and expectations, giving children a choice – and a chance – to enjoy reading”. Meanwhile, on the political front, this week has been all about the Budget, widely framed in advance as a choice between tax cuts and investment in our (literally and metaphorically) crumbling public realm. Let’s connect these dots. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds read less, enjoy reading less and have less access to books than their less-disadvantaged classmates. There is, note, no statutory requirement for every school to have a library. LBL is not overtly political, and certainly not ‘party political’, but we are clear that provision of well-stocked libraries in every school and every locality, welcoming people of all ages and especially children, is a gold-plated investment in our public realm, our communities and our future.
The charity World Book Day says that World Book Day 2024 “will celebrate that children are more likely to enjoy reading when their choices are championed and we make reading fun”. The benefits children (and, of course, people of all ages) derive from regular reading for pleasure are well known – everything from widening vocabulary range to boosting creativity and promoting mental wellbeing – but the charity’s website reminds us of the following points:
Supported by long-term sponsor National Book Tokens and working alongside publishers and booksellers, World Book Day distributes more than fifteen million £1/€1.50 book tokens across the UK and Ireland every year through schools, nurseries, libraries, prisons and other charities.
Our aim for World Book Day 2024 is to bring the fun of reading to more children, to celebrate their choices and encourage everyone to Read Their Way! Fewer children and their families are enjoying reading, just when the life-changing benefits are needed most.
Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day
Meanwhile, yesterday (Wednesday 6 March) was the UK government’s Budget Day. As noted above, the Budget was widely trailed as a choice between two options: cutting taxes – the preference for many Conservative MPs and supporters, either out of economic conviction or desperation for something eye-catching to boost the party’s popularity with the public – or increasing investment in public services.
By way of a backdrop, Birmingham Council announced swingeing cuts to services on Tuesday – including, inevitably, library closures – after previously declaring itself effectively bankrupt. Granted, Birmingham’s Labour-run council may have Birmingham-specific problems relating to financial management, but there is nevertheless a more general concern about local government finance: something like one in five councils in England are thought to be close to bankruptcy.
In the end, the chancellor Jeremy Hunt ‘found’ money for tax cuts without cutting back on previously announced public spending plans, though as Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, pointed out, the tax cuts rely on “the fiscal fiction that another £19 billion of cuts to public services can be delivered in a spending review that … will not take place until after polling day”.
But evidence suggests that – in current circumstances – the public would prefer investment in public services rather than tax cuts. The Sky News journalist Sophy Ridge reminded us on X (formerly Twitter) that when YouGov recently asked the public what the government should prioritise 57% said funding for public services and 27% said tax cuts. The Tony Blair Institute found something similar – 52% for “long-term investment” against 11% for tax cuts.
We have also pointed out that well-stocked libraries are an investment in our future. What a bitter irony it is that, in times of economic difficulties and retrenchment, investment in the public services that produce the best long-term returns is often the first to be slashed. The Guardian newspaper reported in 2019 that almost 800 libraries in Britain had closed since 2010. It is safe to say that the situation will not have improved since then.
A 2023 report – Libraries for living, and for living better – suggested that England’s public libraries generate £3.4 billion a year of value. The report was a welcome reminder – at a time of huge financial pressures – that libraries are not an unaffordable and dispensable luxury. As well as being places of “living literacy” and an investment in the future, libraries play a crucial role as a frontline public service, perhaps now more than ever.
Every time a library closes it becomes harder to have access to and enjoy books – and it does further vandalism to our already damaged communities. Supporting libraries and ending book poverty are about social justice.
Not to mention educational common sense: every child, regardless of their background, should have access to a rich supply of high-quality books and to spaces that make it easy and pleasurable to read.
And yet, what of school library provision?
A 2021 report published by the National Literacy Trust charity said that a quarter of disadvantaged primary schools in England do not have a library and that four in ten primary schools do not have a dedicated library budget. The report reminded us that it is not even a legal requirement for schools to have a library.
Despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of good library access — more reading for enjoyment, better attitudes to learning, higher attainment — school library provision is extremely uneven across the country, with schools in areas of highest deprivation having the worst provision.
Life-Based Learning (LBL) is not overtly political, and certainly not ‘party political’. But any discussion of principles, values and aims cannot be entirely divorced from the realm of politics. LBL is predicated on the idea that we cannot simply carry on as we are. We need to empower individuals and we need to harness the power, the moral authority and the immense resources of the state. These are not mutually exclusive. We need to do both.