Summer reading sorted with school’s Street Library

GLEN Park Primary School has become home to one of five registered Street Libraries in Ballarat, encouraging children across town to borrow, read and return.

Tony Shaw has been GPPS principal since 1997 and was inspired to create Ballarat’s first school Street Library when he heard about the movement on television.

“They were showing how communities in New Zealand had ‘rebelled’ against the closure of their small local libraries by creating their own.

“I remember them using old fridges as street libraries and I thought, that would be a good idea for us,” he said.

“We lost access to the Ballarat City Mobile Library years ago, so we made a concerted effort to make sure we had an excellent school library regardless of our limited budget.”

He’s pleased the library will not only encourage his students’ reading, but “lend to the wider community.

“What better way to engage locals than to open up our library to them?

I’m hoping it encourages literacy in a 30km radius of our school.”

Mr Shaw ordered the GPPS Street Library from the project’s HQ in Erskineville, NSW where it was handcrafted by volunteers.

Two weeks after ordering, it arrived as a fresh canvas for decorating, made from long-life marine quality plywood with a tough, Perspex window.

“I didn’t want it to blend into the trees at the front of the school or look like a circus tent. I thought the yellow would stand out,” he said.

“The images of famous authors promote my commitment to using classic children’s literature across the school to engage students with the world’s best authors and to create – hopefully – life-long readers.”

The school has purchased brand new, classic children’s books especially for their fresh Street Library.

“I’ve decided to have some months in the year where I put them into themes…which might interest teens in the area or older brothers and sisters of our students,” Mr Shaw said.

There are over 850 registered street libraries across Australia and the coordinators of the broader Street Library initiative hope to have 5000 registered by the end of 2021.

GPPS is a one-teacher school, set in the quiet, peaceful rural environment of Glen Park. The school currently has a single digit enrolment and has been in existence since 1871.

Take a drive up to Glen Park Primary School this Summer – 8.5km from Ballarat’s CBD at 265 Ralstons Road, Glen Park – and “borrow, read, return.”

Head to streetlibrary.org.au/find to locate Ballarat’s four other Street Libraries.