Millions more for collaboration between libraries and schools

Libraries will receive 74 million euros to collaborate with even more schools and daycare centres. This was announced on 30 October by the outgoing Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Mariëlle Paul and outgoing State Secretary for Media and Culture Gunay Uslu. This money is intended to get children and young people reading more.

Thanks to this money, 1,800 daycare centres and schools in primary education, pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO), practical education and vocational education will be able to collaborate with the library for the first time over the next three years. This is done through the BoekStart and the Library in school programmes. In addition, more than 6,000 childcare locations and schools can further expand their existing collaboration with their local library. 

This money means that schools and childcare locations will receive (extra) support from reading consultants. These experts help students choose a book that suits them and help organise reading activities. They also advise schools on what’s needed to get students to be more inclined to pick up a book and start reading. They can also help a school create a reading plan or build or expand a library collection. Schools that need it the most will receive extra support. For example, these can include schools that have a relatively large number of students at risk of learning deficits. 

BoekStart and the Library in school are part of the Basic Skills Master Plan. In this plan, there is a strong focus on the collaboration between schools and libraries. Stichting Lezen and the KB (National Library of the Netherlands) are jointly responsible for these components. Over the coming years, Stichting Lezen will divide the money among the libraries that participate in BoekStart and the Library in school.

Gerlien van Dalen, director of the Stichting Lezen and chair of the Leescoalitie: "We are extremely pleased that even more schools and childcare institutions can now be connected to the Library in school and BoekStart, and that continuity will be guaranteed for existing locations over the coming years. In doing so, we once again give a major boost to the promotion of reading."