{"id":59125,"date":"2026-03-02T17:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/?p=59125"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:49:24","slug":"school-library-association-and-barrington-stoke-launch-new-reader-of-the-year-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/2026\/03\/02\/school-library-association-and-barrington-stoke-launch-new-reader-of-the-year-award\/","title":{"rendered":"School Library Association and Barrington Stoke launch new Reader of the Year Award in the National Year of Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"59125\" class=\"elementor elementor-59125\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-43869a5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"43869a5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f0055d elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1f0055d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Reader-of-the-Year-Award-composite.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-59128\" alt=\"Oathall Academy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Reader-of-the-Year-Award-composite.png 640w, https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Reader-of-the-Year-Award-composite-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533894 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7533894\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Ahead of World Book Day,\u00a0and to celebrate the National Year of Reading, the School Library Association (SLA) is launching a brand-new award\u00a0in collaboration with one of the UK\u2019s most innovative children\u2019s publishers.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-197cc19 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"197cc19\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-25cadb0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"25cadb0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>The Barrington Stoke Reader of the Year Award<\/strong>\u00a0will be the only national award\u00a0to celebrate\u00a0young readers,\u00a0recognising\u00a0pupils in Year 7 and 8\u00a0who have overcome challenge to discover\u00a0the joy of reading.\u00a0The winner will receive \u00a3400 worth of Barrington Stoke books for their school library, a \u00a3100 book token for\u00a0themselves,\u00a0and\u00a0a digital subscription to First News for both home and school.\u00a0<\/p><p>Nominations are now open for the award,\u00a0which\u00a0celebrates\u00a0engagement, enjoyment and determination over academic attainment or reading fluency.\u00a0Awarded by the\u00a0SLA, the Barrington Stoke Reader of the Year Award\u00a0will\u00a0also highlight the vital role school libraries and librarians play in getting the right books into the hands of the right pupils, helping every child develop their own positive relationship with reading.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>Teachers, headteachers and school librarians from across the UK can nominate\u00a0Year 7 and 8\u00a0pupils\u00a0(S1 and S2 in Scotland).\u00a0The closing date for nominations is Friday,\u00a015th\u00a0May, after which a prestigious\u00a0judging panel\u00a0will decide on a shortlist.\u00a0The winner will be announced at the SLA\u2019s Annual Awards Ceremony, taking place\u00a0on 18th\u00a0November\u00a02026\u00a0in London.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Jane Walker, Sales &amp; Marketing Director at Barrington Stoke,<\/strong>\u202f<strong>said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201c<em>At Barrington Stoke, young people are at the heart of everything we do, and we know that some of them face\u00a0real challenges\u00a0on the path to developing a love of reading.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0therefore thrilled to be working with the School Library Association, sponsoring an award to\u00a0celebrate those readers, while also recognising the crucial role of the school librarians who support them on that journey.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p>The judging panel will\u00a0include\u00a0SLA School Librarian of the Year 2025\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Julie Broadbent,\u00a0author\u00a0and SLA Patron\u00a0Tom Palmer\u00a0and\u00a0Barrington Stoke\u00a0author\u00a0Catherine Johnson, as well as\u00a0representatives\u00a0from Barrington Stoke, the School Library Association and\u00a0children\u2019s newspaper\u00a0First News, who will\u00a0join\u00a0the award as media partner. \u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Catherine Johnson said:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>\u201cI am so excited to be a judge for the brand-new Barrington Stoke Reader of the Year Award!<\/em><em>\u202f<\/em><em>I\u00a0firmly believe\u00a0that school libraries and librarians are an integral part of any school community. And I am thrilled to help shine a light on those students\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a vital part of those communities\u00a0\u2013\u00a0who have found their way into books.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Victoria Dilly, CEO of the SLA,\u00a0said:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>\u201cLaunching a brand-new award that celebrates young readers puts children and young people at the heart of our National Year of Reading activity.\u00a0We are thrilled to be joining forces with Barrington Stoke\u00a0\u2013\u00a0their\u00a0focus on making books\u00a0accessible to every\u00a0reader\u00a0makes them the perfect partner\u00a0for an award specifically recognising\u00a0young people who\u00a0have had to overcome challenge to discover the joy of reading. The\u00a0Barrington Stoke Reader of the Year\u00a0Award\u00a0will celebrate the curiosity,\u00a0empathy\u00a0and imagination that\u00a0all children and young people\u00a0can unlock\u00a0when they discover the joy of reading. <\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><em>With children\u2019s reading for pleasure at an all-time low,\u00a0and a mandatory Year 8 reading test soon to enter the curriculum,\u00a0the\u00a0need to celebrate children\u2019s reading enjoyment has never been so important. We know that\u00a0school\u00a0libraries\u00a0and\u00a0school\u00a0librarians\u00a0help\u00a0millions of\u00a0children\u00a0to\u00a0develop\u00a0more\u00a0positive relationships\u00a0with reading,\u00a0and I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0wait to hear about some of them.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Nominations for the Barrington Stoke Reader of the Year Award can be made <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sla.org.uk\/reader-of-the-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahead of World Book Day,\u00a0and to celebrate the National Year of Reading, the School Library Association (SLA) is launching a brand-new award\u00a0in collaboration with one of the UK\u2019s most innovative children\u2019s publishers.\u00a0 \u00a0 The Barrington Stoke Reader of the Year Award\u00a0will be the only national award\u00a0to celebrate\u00a0young readers,\u00a0recognising\u00a0pupils in Year 7 and 8\u00a0who have overcome [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":59126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1585],"tags":[],"directory-category":[],"event_categories":[],"class_list":["post-59125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-15 01:02:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59125"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59134,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59125\/revisions\/59134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59125"},{"taxonomy":"directory-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory-category?post=59125"},{"taxonomy":"event_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event_categories?post=59125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}