Establishing an inclusive authority-wide book award in Perth and Kinross

The presenters from Perth Academy alongside Andrea Cooke, LRC Co-ordinator.

We have been so inspired by the secondary schools in Perth and Kinross working towards Core, Silver and Gold Reading Schools – and seeing the phenomenal reading culture that has grown across their community in this time! We caught up with Fiona Donaldson from Perth Grammar School about the inclusive book award they started to (this will open in a new window)bring clusters of Reading Schools together across the authority to promote Reading for Pleasure and collaboratively meet the criteria of their different accreditation levels.

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you

Written by Fiona Donaldson, LRC (Library), Perth Grammar School.

Background

The idea for an authority-wide book award emerged from discussions in our Subject Network (an authority-wide group comprising all school library staff). Library staff within Perth and Kinross school and campus libraries felt the time was right to follow many other Local Authorities and offer a book award aimed specifically at our BGE (S1–S3) learners.

Reading Schools and inter-school collaboration

There are eleven secondary schools serving Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) over a large geographic area, from Highland Perthshire in the north to Kinross in the south and Strathearn in the West. All schools are at (this will open in a new window)different stages on their Reading Schools journey, and there was unanimous agreement that an authority-wide book award supported (this will open in a new window)Reading Schools criteria: it facilitated collaboration, supported working with external partners and shared our enthusiasm for reading with our communities.

The aim was to offer a book award to promote and sustain Reading for Pleasure; research demonstrates that enthusiasm for (this will open in a new window)reading often declines in the early teens, but if sustained, it (this will open in a new window)enhances academic outcomes and has lasting positive effects. By offering an inclusive, accessible, and representative shortlist, we aimed to offer all readers an opportunity to create and share their enthusiasm for reading and generate discussion with their peers both in their own schools and across the local authority.

Being inclusive: long- to shortlisting

After an informative false start in session 2022–23, the Pilot Scheme started in earnest in June 2023. Crucially, funding was established with all schools agreeing to contribute a set amount. Community partnerships were agreed with Perth Rotary Club who generously donated funding for the creation of a logo and turned pupils’ artwork into promotional posters and bookmarks. Waterstones offered shelf space and a display of the four shortlisted titles in their Perth store and the opportunity to share our award with the wider community. Their bookseller Richard was a fabulous compere at our awards ceremony. PKC Schools Read! book award Instagram and Twitter pages were also set up.

Longlisting was completed by school library staff over the summer – holiday reading sorted! – and shortlisting was carried out in the autumn term. Everyone put the case (or not!) for the books they had read, and a consensus was reached. We successfully whittled our Longlist of twelve down to a Shortlist four over an intensive afternoon on Teams. Phew!

The shortlist launched in September 2023: our criteria for the shortlist was emphatically inclusive and the final four books covered neurodiversity, dyslexia-friendly books, LGBTQ+ fiction and incredible authors. We were delighted to have fulfilled another of our wishes: highlighting some of the amazing, high quality Middle Grade/Young Adult books that are published and perhaps fly ‘under the radar’, aren’t stocked by supermarkets or receive celebrity endorsements.

Great to see such thematic range/inclusion across the short list!

Judging

Perth Grammar School student presentation

Perth Grammar School student judges

Each school was free to run their judging panels in the most appropriate way for their individual setting – our only condition was that the readers had to be in the BGE phase. Again, to be inclusive to as wide a range of readers as possible, pupils had to rate the books on a ‘star’ scale of 1-5 and write reviews if they wished. The feedback sheet was designed in conjunction with teaching staff so that pupils were able to provide unbiased thoughts and opinions on the books. Some library staff worked closely with English departments and classes, others recruited participants outside of class, e.g. during social intervals or by running PKC Schools Read! book groups. The overall winner was decided by adding up all the ‘star’ ratings they had received.

I got to read different genres I wouldn't necessarily read if it weren't for the book award

Winners and award ceremony

A close-up of the winning trophy awarded to All That’s Left in the World by Erik J Brown (the second picture shows the colourful pages’ of the 'book'!).

We had a fabulous celebration of reading and announced our award winner in a ceremony attended by most participating schools on Wednesday 15th May 2024 at the Soutar Theatre in the AK Bell Library in Perth.

There was a great buzz around the ceremony; Waterstones had a book stall, and the ceremony was pupil-led with four participating schools making presentations about each of the short-listed authors. Videos from all the authors or publishers were shown, which really engaged the audience and provided some background context to their writing. The winner was announced and will receive a fabulous trophy commissioned from (this will open in a new window)The Workshop, a social enterprise business in Aberfeldy.

Most pupils surveyed said they would like to take part again next year, and we believe the inclusive themes of the shortlist are beneficial for all pupils to read.

It is so important to have projects such as this promoting reading to young people. Pupils were enthusiastic. Hope we can do this every year.

Our thanks to Fiona for sharing, and we wish them all the best in running a second year of their successful PKC Book Awards! For more inspiration from Reading Schools across the country, or if you have an exciting project of your own to share, check out the (this will open in a new window)Reading Schools Community page to discover more ways to be involved.

Related resources

• (this will open in a new window)Becoming a Reading Schools cluster – Reading Schools
• (this will open in a new window)Communicating your Reading Schools achievements – Press and Social Media Tips – Reading Schools
• (this will open in a new window)Partnerships within local community – Reading Schools
• (this will open in a new window)Rewarding progress and recognising personal achievements – Reading Schools
• (this will open in a new window)Why is reading especially important for teens? – Scottish Book Trust
• (this will open in a new window)Why we love librarians – Reading Schools