Evening of celebration marks the re-opening of refurbished Justham Library at Loughborough Amherst School
An evening of celebration took place at Loughborough Amherst School, formerly OLCS, as it officially opened the newly extended and refurbished Justham Library.
The library has been refurbished to include a new IT room for independent study and extended to include more space for Prep and Senior resources, allowing pupils the space to grow in a comfortable and familiar environment.
Joined by 100 guests, including pupils, teachers, alumni and donors, the library’s re-opening was marked by speeches from the School Librarian, Laura Bradshaw, and alumnus and guest speaker, Giles Kristian (LGS 1994).
Giles Kristian, the Leicestershire-born novelist and former Loughborough Grammar School pupil, is best known for his historical action-adventure fiction novels. During his speech, Giles talked of the School’s history and reading heritage.
As well as providing reading materials for students from pre-school to sixth-form and break-out spaces for concentrated study, the library will also run its popular ‘Library Monitor’ system.
Prep and senior students will be given the opportunity to practice responsibility and organisation in the ‘workplace’, by managing the operations of the library guided by its qualified librarian.
To encourage the exploration of the written word, the library will also stock a growing collection of graphic novels and manga, alongside its academic materials.
"Since its original opening in 1976, the Justham Library has been an important resource centre for the School. Over the years, many bright and creative thinkers have found inspiration in our collection of textbooks, non-fiction, and fiction stories, and each have gone on to be successful scholars, leaders and even novelists like Giles Kristian. Reading can have a such an important impact on a young person’s development, beyond that of an academic curriculum - from harnessing their creativity and encouraging them to connect with others, to empowering them to articulate their own ideas clearly and become skilled problem solvers. Many of these characteristics align with our own ‘Minerva’ learning culture. That’s why it has long been our view that reading for pleasure as a child is one of the most important building blocks to success in adult life, and we believe this newly-refurbished space – built on the foundations of that mindset – will allow our pupils the space to grow and flourish."
The Justham Library is named after Alison Justham (OLCS 1971), who generously donated funding for the refurbishment of the library in 2014.
