Author David Solomons joined the mayor of Islington in cutting the ribbon to officially launch Hungerford Primary School’s new library.

Islington Gazette: Author David Solomons joined the new Mayor of Islington in cutting the ribbon to officially launch Hungerford Primary Schools new library.Author David Solomons joined the new Mayor of Islington in cutting the ribbon to officially launch Hungerford Primary Schools new library. (Image: hungerford)

The library at the school in Hungerford Road has been revamped thanks to the efforts of parent volunteer Helen Burchett, who has a child in Year 2.

She has raised money with the Parent and Teacher Association to buy books and beanbags, and installed a library system with a scanner.

She now plans to come into the school as a librarian once a week so children can now take out books. She has also decorated the space and put in beanbags.

A week ago (Thu) the author, who penned the My Brother Is a Superhero series, came in to cut the ribbon along with Cllr Rakhia Ismail.

Islington Gazette: Author David Solomons joined the new Mayor of Islington in cutting the ribbon to officially launch Hungerford Primary Schools new library.Author David Solomons joined the new Mayor of Islington in cutting the ribbon to officially launch Hungerford Primary Schools new library. (Image: hungerford)

Assistant head teacher Jody Trantner told the Gazette: "Helen has been instrumental in getting the library going. It was an underused space not being used to its full potential.

"There are now lots of displays around works of fiction and reading, and it's very welcoming and child friendly, with lots of nice bright colours and beanbags so children can sit and relax. It's a nice space to sit quietly, be contemplative and develop their love of reading."

The school's English co-ordinator Rob Fletcher hopes the library will transform the school.

"We are putting reading at the heart of what we are doing and the library will play a major part of that," he said. "Reading is massively important, because everything we do in life involves reading, from waiting for a bus to writing an article for a university.

"We know the wider the breadth of someone's reading the stronger the range of their writing will be, and studies have shown that children who read for pleasure have a wider range of empathy skills."

Inviting in David Solomons helped fire up the youngsters, who had to create their own superhero in his workshop.

"He's a really popular author among the children and is very funny and engaging," said Mr Fletcher.

"He was talking about how he created his superheroes, where his passions for superheroes came from, and what the essentials are for making a superhero.

"They really engaged with it and enjoyed talking to [David], and the really important thing in terms of literacy was learning about the ebbs and flows of a story and how to create a strong character.

"The other side is they realised you can plan your way through a book, and it's not some mythical genius from the ether.

"Everyone has the potential to be a writer."