Education Experts Call for School Libraries to Become Legal Right
Leading voices in literature and education have issued a powerful demand for school libraries to be granted the same legal protection as prison and public libraries. The urgent call came during a panel discussion at the prestigious London Book Fair, where experts highlighted a growing crisis in children's access to books and professional library support.
The Funding Crisis Threatening Reading Freedom
Louis Coiffait-Gunn, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), delivered a stark warning about the real threat facing young readers. "The biggest risk is not individual book bans," he stated emphatically. "The biggest risk is to do with funding and lack of recognition."
Coiffait-Gunn explained the alarming reality facing hundreds of schools across the country: "If you think about schools, even if they do have access to books and a library - and our Great School Library Campaign shows that hundreds of schools don't offer that - even then, far too many of our children don't have access to the support of an ethical expert library professional."
The Censorship of Austerity
The panel, organized by English PEN to protect freedom of expression, explored how financial constraints create a form of censorship more pervasive than individual book challenges. "There are so many books that are just not there on library shelves because there's no funding for them," Coiffait-Gunn revealed. "The biggest kind of censorship that's going on is to do with funding."
This funding crisis comes against a troubling backdrop of increasing book removal requests across UK libraries. While high-profile cases like Kent County Council's claims about transgender-related books often make headlines, the panel emphasized that the systemic underfunding of school libraries represents a far greater threat to reading freedom.
Why Prison Libraries Have More Protection
Coiffait-Gunn posed a fundamental question that struck at the heart of the discussion: "Why is it that public and prison libraries are a right? We all have a right to those, but there isn't a right to a school library. That seems very short-sighted to me."
This legal disparity means that while prisoners are guaranteed access to library services, schoolchildren have no such protection. The panel argued this creates an educational inequality that affects children's development and future opportunities.
Literacy Statistics Reveal Growing Problem
Recent research from the National Literacy Trust paints a concerning picture of children's reading habits. The 2025 study found that:
- Only 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8 to 18 enjoy reading in their free time
- A quarter of surveyed children value having the freedom to choose what they read
- Access to school libraries and librarians could dramatically improve these statistics
Author Perspectives on Library Importance
#1 Sunday Times best-selling author Juno Dawson, whose book This Book is Gay faced restrictions in Alaska in 2015, brought her experience as both writer and former educator to the discussion. "The idea of a high school without a library, without a librarian is madness," she declared. "It's not a school if there is not a library with a librarian there. I don't know what it is - a building?"
Dr. Louisa Joyner, Associate Publisher at Faber, emphasized the unique role libraries play in children's personal development. "Books are radically intimate," she explained. "You can go into a library or bookshop, and read the first chapter without anyone knowing what you're looking at. That radical intimacy, that ability to discover for yourself is absolutely fundamental to children and young people exploring and changing their mindset."
The Path Forward for Reading Rights
The panel concluded that immediate action is needed to protect children's access to books and professional library support. With reading enjoyment at concerning lows and funding cuts threatening the very existence of school libraries, experts argue that legal protection is no longer optional but essential.
As the National Year of Reading continues, the call for school libraries to become a legal right grows louder, with education professionals, authors, and publishers united in their demand for equal protection for all readers, regardless of age or educational setting.
