The registered charity Bookmark is offering Sheffield primary schools the opportunity to receive £2000 worth of free books in hope of encouraging children to read.
More than one in four children in England are unable to read well when they leave primary school.
Bookmark hopes to stop this trend and provide support so that every child can read.
Martin Cross, Bookmark’s School Business Development Officer, said: ‘’We wanted to get the books into every school. We know school libraries are not very good, the biggest issue is the lack of variety around books, particularly themes and diversity.
‘’We wanted to pick books that really open up the diversity, including different cultures, different religions, and different backgrounds.’’
Bookmark has already been successful in many schools across the UK but the main issue the charity faces is schools not believing that the books are free.
Mr Cross said: ‘’They hear £2000, and think what’s the catch but it really is free, hopefully we get there.
“In Sheffield there are 134 schools that we are going after and so far we only have 70 per cent.’’
The high quality books are included in ‘Your Story Corner’ pack, alongside other helpful reading resources.
The charity has continued to receive positive feedback regarding the diverse books and the improved engagement towards reading.
99 per cent of schools reported the resources made a positive difference to reading engagement.
One school commented: ‘’We are still reeling from receiving such a wonderful selection of books…for free!! We can’t quite get over it.’’
Mr Cross said: ‘’Your Story Corner is the best part of my job, the satisfaction from knowing we’ve donated over 50,000 free books to schools where children need them the most over the last two years is immense.’’
If you are a school within Sheffield City Council you can apply at: Your Story Corner — Bookmark Reading. Deadline 31 October.
