A TEACHER is taking matters into her own hands by ‘reading her height in books’ to help secure funding for the school library.
Amy Holwell is the year two teacher and English lead at The Mill Academy, Lobwood, who believes that the library at the school is lacking in up-to-date resources.
“The most recent book in our library was published in 1992,” said Amy. “The information is out of date, especially when it comes to science. There have been a lot of advances in the past 20 years and the resources we have are inappropriate for teaching up-to-date facts.
“Unfortunately there is no budget for us to be able to update our books because it would cost about £1,500 to £2,000.”
Amy is planning to read a stack of books as tall as she is in an attempt to fundraise for new books and she plans to do it all in just one month.
“Hopefully by the end of this month I will have read all the books,” she said. “I have a strategy where I am trying to read mostly children’s books so that I can get through the books quicker and also so I can make recommendations for the library. I’ve asked the children about what books they would like me to read and I think it’s a great way to get them interested in literature.
“My aim in this is to get the children excited to go and pick up a book. They don’t want to read books from before they were born, they want things that interest them now. It’s hard enough to get them to take books home so I’m hoping with more books that appeal to them that it will bridge that gap.”
Alongside Amy’s efforts, the school is planning a sponsored read for the pupils where they can be sponsored to help raise money for the new books. Amy hopes to raise £300 to put towards starting the new library and has already read five books.
- To donate visit www.justgiving.com and search ‘Amy Holwell’.
