In a recent article in the Guardian UK a group of authors, publishers, teachers and librarians are calling on the government to make school libraries statutory.

This was a complete shock to me that school libraries were not statutory. How can we expect our children to explore the worlds that books open to them if they do not have access to books? How can we expect them to become literate adults if we do not support their education with access to the right tools?

Although anyone would support the right of prisoners to a library, as it can be part of the process of rehabilitation through education, why are we not offering this to our children? Research indicates that many young people who offend have low literacy levels, so are we to assume that we wait UNTIL they get to prison before we help them learn to read?

Access to books and reading is fundamental in us supporting our children’s literacy. We cannot afford to leave it until it is too late.