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A group of close to 150 campaigners is to lobby parliament for school libraries to be made statutory, with authors Chris Priestley and Philip Ardagh among those taking part today.
The campaigners, including teachers, librarians, parents and students, will converge on parliament at 2 p.m. this afternoon, with a march from Victoria Embankment Gardens setting off at 1 p.m.
Libraries are not currently a statutory requirement for schools, with campaigners saying that if they were on the Ofsted Inspection Schedule then that would force schools to keep libraries and to think seriously about their provision.
Lobby organiser Barbara Band, who is head of library and resources at The Emmbrook School near Wokingham, Berkshire, said she was feeling "excited" about the lobby because of the amount of support they had received, but also "slightly apprehensive". S
he said: "I'm just hoping by chipping away at the government, and each time making more people aware that school libraries aren't statutory, hopefully we can eventually make them change their stance."