HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, PATRON, NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST, WILL OPEN THE 50TH CORONATION LIBRARY IN ISLINGTON
Tuesday 7th May 2024
Her Majesty The Queen, as Patron of the National Literacy Trust, will visit Moreland Primary School to open their new Coronation Library, the 50th in a series of special primary school libraries that have been transformed over the last twelve months with the help of the National Literacy Trust, to mark the Coronation.
The library at Moreland Primary School is also the 1000th primary school library to open as part of the National Literacy Trust’s Libraries for Primaries campaign, which aims to establish libraries in UK primary schools in areas where local communities have low levels of literacy.
During the visit Her Majesty will also join an interactive storytelling session with young librarians from primary schools across the city, before opening the new library and listening to Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho read a poem ’One Thousand Libraries’ that he has written for the occasion. Moreland Primary School, Moreland Street, London EC1.
On arrival at the school, Her Majesty will be greeted by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant who will present local dignitaries: Catherine Lawrence, Headteacher, Moreland Primary School, and Jonathan Douglas, Chief Executive, National Literacy Trust.
Her Majesty will proceed to the Play Centre where a round table discussion will have taken place between charity, publishers, business partners and author ambassadors, including Cressida Cowell and Chris Smith, who have supported the Libraries for Primaries campaign. The Queen will join an interactive storytelling activity, led by international storyteller, Alim Kamara, with 10 reading ambassadors from Moreland Primary School and 20 pupil librarians and their teachers from local Libraries for Primaries beneficiary schools, who have benefited from a new library space.
The Queen, accompanied by two of Moreland Primary’s pupil librarians will then move to the new library where Her Majesty will meet Joseph Coelho, the Waterstones Children’s Laureate. Her Majesty will have an opportunity to talk to some of the pupils about their involvement in reading activities in the school, before Joseph Coelho reads a poem he has written specially for the occasion. To conclude this part of the engagement, Her Majesty will unveil a plaque to mark the opening of the library.
The Queen will proceed to the playground, where the school choir will be singing and children gathered. The children will be waving flags decorated with their favourite book character.
