School libraries are under used and under funded according to the latest research published by Booktrust at the launch of Children's Book Week. The report, conducted by LISU at Loughborough University reveals that 92 % of secondary schools and 61% of primary schools are spending far below the recommended figure per head on books for their libraries. Consequently, many primary and secondary schools are failing to meet the recommendations of the Chartered Institute of Library and Professionals (CILIP) of an average stock of 13 books per pupil and 17 books per pupil for those over the age of 16. The average number of books in secondary school libraries was just 8 per pupil, well below CILIP’s recommended figures.

Research and evaluation co-ordinator, Dr Ronald Marden said:

“Research suggests that children who have access to good school libraries reap dividends: access to books makes for good readers, good readers make good learners. Yet Booktrust’s survey found that school libraries are often under-used and undervalued. In many cases across the country, school libraries are failing to fulfil their potential because of limited access to or low levels of funding on, books. We encourage schools to review their provision and renew their commitment to this vital resource by ensuring that their library is properly resourced and made easily available to all pupils.”

Full report

The research also revealed that:

• primary schools spend an average of £10.39 per head per year on the library and £8.04 on books for loan.

• secondary schools spend an average of £4.28 per head per year on the library and £2.67 on books for loan.

 • on average pupils in secondary schools only borrowed one book each per term.

 • just 1% of those who run libraries in primary schools have a professional library qualification. 58% of secondary school libraries are run by staff without a professional qualification

 • 1/3 of respondents reported that the person who ran the primary school library did not have specialist knowledge of children’s literature. In secondary schools, 22% of respondents had no specialist knowledge of children’s literature

 • 85% of secondary schools reported that expenditure on the library in 2006-07 was around the same or lower than the previous year

. • 72% of primary school respondents stated that if they had a bigger whole school budget they would spend more on the library