BBC News
Author Julia Donaldson opens Sussex school library.
National coverage of the opening day — the £15,000 community-built renovation, Julia Donaldson on the children, and her gift of a signed picture book.
Read on BBC News →The Caughlin Library
A bright, welcoming room — where the whole school comes to read.
Named after Lawrence Caughlin, the Headteacher who led the project, and opened by Julia Donaldson in October 2023 after a £15,000 community-built renovation. Recognised by the School Library Association as Enterprise of the Year 2024.
The room
Built for reading. Built for being read to.
A bright, welcoming room with reading nooks, calm colours, and quotes by the school's pupil librarians on the walls.
The 2023 renovation cost around £15,000 — but a lot of the work was donated. Parents who could do carpentry, design, artwork or knew what makes a high-quality library all gave their time, with PTA fundraising behind the build.
The room — The Caughlin Library — is named after Lawrence Caughlin, the Headteacher who led the project. His vision was a library that felt “warm, nurturing and comfortable” — a space that would help every child fall in love with books.
Every class at Swiss Gardens is named after a children's author, and Reception's Julia Donaldson Class shares its name with the author who opened the room. The whole school comes here to read — as classes, in small groups, and on their own. Our librarian, Mrs Sands, runs the day-to-day life of the Library.
“There is nothing better than sitting in a quiet place and getting pulled into the magical world of a book.”
A Year 5 pupil librarian · painted on the Library wall
Opened by Julia Donaldson
The author of The Gruffalo cut the ribbon.
Julia Donaldson — Children's Laureate 2011–2013 and creator of The Gruffalo, Stick Man, Room on the Broom, Superworm and many more — opened the Library on Monday 2 October 2023.
She gifted the school a signed picture book and met the pupil librarians whose quotes line the walls. She used the visit, too, to make the case for the Great School Library campaign — that a librarian who knows the children from Year 1 to Year 6 is what brings the right book and the right child together.
National recognition · 2024
Enterprise of the Year — School Library Association.
In November 2024 the Library was named Enterprise of the Year at the national School Library Association awards, presented by author Robin Stevens. The shortlist was, in the SLA's words, “a sparkling shortlist” — and Swiss Gardens rose to the top of it.
School Library Association Awards · London · November 2024
In the press
What the news said.
The Library opening and the SLA award were both picked up by the local and national press.
Sussex Express
The Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson opens West Sussex school library.
Local coverage of the opening — Julia Donaldson's case for school libraries, the community renovation, and pupil and teacher voices on the day.
Read on Sussex Express →Your Mag
Big wins for West Sussex at the SLA awards.
Coverage of the national School Library Association Awards 2024 — Swiss Gardens won Enterprise of the Year, presented by author Robin Stevens.
Read on Your Mag →The difference it makes
What a year of the Library looks like.
The 2025–26 school year in numbers — how much the room is used, and what it changes for readers across the school.
- 3,481books borrowed in 2025–26
- 228whole-class library sessions
- 38sessions each for Reception, Years 1 and 2, and Years 3, 4, 5 and 6
Every teacher and teaching assistant has been trained in using the Library and what it’s for. Our librarian, Mrs Sands, featured on BBC Radio 4’s Analysis.
Why a school library makes such a difference
Swiss Gardens invested in a real, staffed library because the evidence behind it is strong. Here is what a good school library changes for children:
Reading for pleasure
Children read more widely and more often — at school and at home — talk about books, and recommend them to each other. Reluctant readers, including children with SEND, start picking books up.
Learning
More attention, motivation and engagement in class, and gains in children’s writing — particularly vocabulary and imagination.
Wellbeing
A stronger sense of pride, confidence and self-worth; more empathy; friendships forming across year groups; calmer classrooms and playtimes.
A wider world
A broader outlook, reading resources that reflect every child, and stronger links between school, families and the wider community.
Findings from BookTrust’s Life Changing Libraries research (Cressida Cowell, 2022) — the evidence base behind the school’s investment in the Library.
Reading rhythm
Reading runs through the week.
The Library is the room — but reading is the habit. A few of the small things that add up across a week.
- Class library visits, every week, every year group
- Reading aloud — adults to children, children to children
- Author visits
- Every class is named after a children's author — Reception's after Julia Donaldson, who opened the Library
- Parent reading volunteers welcomed
- After-school sessions for families through the year — read together, take books home, ask our librarian for a recommendation
What the Library offers — for everyone.
For children
- Weekly class library time
- Reading-for-pleasure and “book blethering” sessions
- Book recommendations and “book prescriptions”
- Poetry, rhyme and author visits
- The chance to train as a pupil librarian
For teachers
- Help choosing books — reading for pleasure and topic links
- Ideas for texts that support children with specific needs
- “Booky breakfasts” — teachers as readers
- Support to grow as a reading teacher
For families
- After-school sessions, open to all families
- Open afternoons for different ages
- Book recommendations and reading advice at parent evenings
Come and see the Library.
The best way to understand the Library is to be in it. Open mornings include a visit; you can also book a one-to-one tour.