The event was organised by the National Literacy Trust, in partnership with WHSmith and Glasgow Libraries, as part of the charity’s Young Readers Programme. This year, the programme has supported the literacy of hundreds of local children through a series of fun events designed to inspire a love of reading, where children got the chance to choose brand new books to keep.

At the event, authors Ross MacKenzie (The Nowhere Emporium) Janis MacKay (The Accidental Time Traveller) and Victoria Williamson (The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle) brought their books to life with a series of lively and interactive presentations. Every child then got the chance to choose a brand new book to keep, and many chose books signed by the authors at the event.

Karen Taylor, P6 teacher, Oakgrove Primary:

The Young Readers Programme has been such a brilliant way to get to get books into the hands and homes of our children, and it’s been a particularly fantastic opportunity to expose them to a wider range of authors. As well as this morning’s amazing author event, our children actually got to go into the WHSmith store and choose their new books, which they absolutely loved! P6 have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of the programme’s events. Thank you so much to the National Literacy Trust, WHSmith and Glasgow Libraries, who have been so incredibly generous and so wonderful at encouraging our children to read more.

The Young Readers Programme in Glasgow is funded by WHSmith and supported by employees from the Argyle Street WHSmith store. The programme has been delivered in nine primary schools by staff from Glasgow Libraries, and has directly supported the literacy of 349 children. A number of pupils from participating schools also got the chance to visit their local WHSmith store to choose a selection of new books for their school library.

Nicki Woodhead, Head of Corporate Responsibility at WHSmith, said:

We're delighted that we have been able to support the National Literacy Trust's Young Readers Programme for another year through financial support and book donations for young readers and their schools. We have a long-standing programme of supporting the local communities in which our stores are based, and our staff love building links with schools and getting involved in local projects.

Sinead Naidoo, Young Readers Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: 

When children enjoy reading and have books of their own at home, they do better at school and are more likely to lead happy, healthy and successful lives. We were thrilled to be able to inspire young readers at the city’s iconic Mitchell Library by celebrating the transformative power of books with three fantastic Scottish children’s authors. We’d like to thank WHSmith and Glasgow Libraries for their work this year to help 349 local children discover a love of reading that will last them a lifetime.

Councillor David McDonald, Chair of Glasgow Life, said: 

We know that children who read, succeed and here in Glasgow we deliver a range of initiatives to support children and their families to engage with the many benefits that reading for pleasure can bring.

I’m delighted that Glasgow Libraries has teamed up with the National Literacy Trust and WHSmith to not only offer children the chance to choose their own books, and books for their school libraries, but also the opportunity to hear from authors who will bring the magical world of books and reading to life

WHSmith has generously funded the Young Readers Programme for the last 14 years, directly supporting the literacy of 25,500 children from 47 communities across the UK. In this time, WHSmith has gifted more than 64,500 brand new books to children participating in the programme. For many children, these were the first books they had ever owned.

To find out more about the Young Readers Programme, visit: www.literacytrust.org.uk/programmes/young-readers-programme/