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Case studies

Schools across Plymouth are receiving thousands of pounds worth of return on their investment in a Schools Library Service subscription. 

In addition to providing quality book stock they also received a professional advisory service, bespoke author events, access to an eBooks platform and other online services, and use of our discounted bookshop.

All books supplied by us are jacketed and serviced to prolong their life. They are also classed as core library material by industry experts to give you confidence in the quality of their information and authorship.


Hele's School case study

Hele’s School is a mixed Academy school and Sixth Form in the Plympton district of Plymouth.

Hele’s School Library underwent extensive refurbishment in 2016. They asked for our assistance to accomplish the task of weeding their books in preparation for the new look library.

We needed to weed 30% of our stock, a huge task for myself and my assistant. Staff from SLS were able to give us additional time, over and above our contracted hours, to help us with the necessary but very labour-intensive process. It’s fair to say we couldn’t have done it without their invaluable practical help and support.

Mrs Wolf, Librarian

Hele’s pupils make good use of our eBook service, allowing pupils access to the library from home. We have been working with the school to integrate our eBook platform to their new Library Management System making eBook borrowing even easier.

We can provide professional training, author events and visits for your school. In 2018 we arranged for Sally Nicholls, author of Things a Bright Girl Can Do to visit the school and talk to pupils about her book and the suffragettes who inspired her.

SLS have allowed us to gain by providing author talks with no or little additional expense for our school or students. Organising an author visit is an expense that we would find it hard to justify so we really appreciate being able to offer the pleasure of meeting a real live writer to our students through the SLS, as this is a valued aspect of promoting reading for pleasure. We have become accustomed to receiving copies of popular current book titles throughout the school year, part of our exchange allowance of books, an aspect of SLS’s service to us that allows us to remain current with new stock to offer without us having to take time to identify the upcoming titles and order them. It’s really time-efficient for us, and definitely helps us keep up-to-date and keeps our stock appealing for students.

Mrs Wolf, Librarian

Laira Green Primary School

Laira Green is a Community primary school with children from five to eleven in the Laira area of Plymouth.

Laira Green contacted us when they wanted to create a new library, putting a love of books and reading at the heart of their school. The school had identified a classroom that they wished to transform into a safe and welcoming library. We made a full audit of their existing stock and recommended specialist school suppliers to assist the School Management Team in the design of their new library.

Thank you to Plymouth Schools Library Service who have been a fantastic support and will continue to support us in our development of the love of reading.

Mrs Kennedy, Headteacher

Previously at the school, books were stored in the school corridor making browsing impossible and the current stock was out of date and tatty. Pupils and staff visited our showroom to select the stock of brand new and exchangeable books.

We supplied all titles ready for the Accelerated Reader programme and with MARC records so they could easily be downloaded to the Junior Librarian Library Management System used in school.

The new library opened in September 2018 and is now a bright and inviting space, with bespoke shelving and reading displays. The library has already had an impact not only in school where children are borrowing more books but in the wider local community. The space is open to parents to visit after school and hosts a local toddler group for a weekly book sharing session.

Laira Green trialled our services before committing to subscribing, borrowing topics during the previous term so teachers could experience the real benefits of a subscription.

Thank you for a very pleasant visit to the Schools Library Service. It’s such a joy to choose boxes full of books for my class

Andy Bright, Teacher

Montpelier Primary School

The largest primary school in Plymouth, part of the Inspiring Schools Partnership Multi-Academy Trust.

Montpelier Primary School had felt that both reading for pleasure and writing stamina was declining among some of their upper KS2 boys. Research has shown that using the power of sport can inspire young people in both their reading and writing. To address this we organised a World Cup Reading Event with children’s fiction author Tom Palmer (Football Academy) and The Times sports journalist and biographer Rick Broadbent.

Following the visit, the children were really excited to find that a real author and journalist were structuring their writing in a similar way to what they had been doing in class and referring to this increased the enthusiasm for not just writing, but also following the planning and editing process carefully.

Ms McDiarmid, Class teacher

During the interactive workshops KS2 children learned not only how to plot a story and wrote a report of a real football match, but how the speakers travelled from reluctant readers to successful writer and journalist. The morning captured the energy of the nation’s enthusiasm as the England football squad was successfully progressing through the World Cup. We also provided topic boxes with a special appeal for reluctant readers and World Cup readers for the school’s library and Year 4 and 5 classes as part of their subscription package.

Through the Library Service, it has been beneficial to more reluctant readers to be able to direct them to a wider range of fiction and non-fiction that they may not have had access to otherwise and has meant that an increasing number of boys are visiting.

When handing out the books, there were children (in particularly reluctant boys!) whose faces were lighting up when they saw they had their own book signed just for them.

Ms McDiarmid, Class teacher

In 2017/18 Montpelier Primary School received 134 topic boxes containing 3350 books to support classroom learning. We provided 1340 books for their school library. In 2017/18 we exchanged 474 of these to maintain the collection and keep it fresh, relevant and exciting for their pupils. Libraries are fantastic resources and need regular care and attention to keep them working well and relevant to your students. A subscription to SLS includes regular professional advice and guidance.