What's new?

New LSE booklists available to download

LSE's annual booklist of our favourite fiction from May 2009 to April 2010, Reads You Need 2010, is now available in both primary and secondary editions. Crammed full of reviews and recommendations of essential books from both new and established authors, Reads You Need 2010 is a must-have document for all school library managers and you are free to print off as many copies as you wish. Click on the links to download the primary edition (PDF file, 2.3 MB) or secondary edition (PDF file, 2.1 MB). You can also still download both the primary edition of Reads You Need 2009 (PDF file, 2.03 MB) and the secondary edition of Reads You Need 2009 (PDF file, 1.82 MB).

LSE's recommended summer reads

Click here to check out the latest reviews for our favourite fiction books for the summer, from Foundation Stage up to 16+.

"Space Hop" - the Summer Reading Challenge 2010

The Summer Reading Challenge blasts off in Leicestershire Libraries on Saturday 10th July. For more information about the nationwide initiative, called "Space Hop" in 2010, click on the logo to the left, or to find out what Leicestershire Libraries are doing to support the challenge click here.

CILIP school libraries report published

Following a national online survey of school libraries commissioned by the School Libraries Group of CILIP a report has now been published, entitled "School libraries in the UK: a worthwhile past, a difficult present - and a transformed future?". To read the executive report (and the full report from the 2nd of August) click here.

Carnegie/Greenaway winners

The winners of the 2010 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book", featuring Chris Riddell's superb illustrations, has added the Carnegie Medal to its roster of awards, whilst Freya Blackwood won the Greenaway for her distinctive illustrations for Margaret Wild's picture book "Harry and Hopper". For more details about these books and previous winners of the awards visit the official website.

Raintree launches competition to create the "Ultimate Super Hero"

Raintree (formerly Heinemann Library) have launched a competition calling for children and young people up to age 16 to create their own "ultimate super hero". Entrants should submit full details about their super hero, including an image and details of their super powers. The winning entry will secure an author visit by American writer Michael Dahl to their school. The closing date is Friday the 22nd of October. For further details and to download a worksheet for use in classroom discussions go to the Raintree website.

Free online tools available from Futurelab

Futurelab is an independent organisation supported by Becta that aims to make learning and teaching more relevant and engaging by linking it to newly emerging technologies. They provide a variety of online tools which can assist both teachers and students in resarch projects, debating and assessing the latest web tools. To access these tools click here.

New competition for fans of "The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43"

Following the success of the first competition based on the award-winning "The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43" the author Harriet Goodwin has launched another one. This time, fans of the book are invited to create their own map of the Underworld described in the story. The closing date is the 22nd of October 2010. For more details download a letter from Harriet Goodwin (Word doc, 27 KB) and a promotional poster (PDF file, 2.8 MB).

"Inspire LeicesterShire" website for 2012

Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council have launched a website called Inspire LeicesterShire which is packed full of information about what is happening in the region to maximise the benefits of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This includes involvement in the "Igniting Ambition" festival which celebrates a broad range of festival activity across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and is running from April to November 2010. For more information download a copy of the Igniting Ambition document (PDF file, 1.09 MB).

New National Non-Fiction Day on 4th November

The Federation of Children's Book Groups in partnership with Scholastic have created a new National Non-Fiction (NNF) Day. This aims to celebrate the rich variety of non-fiction available to children, including that which contributes to reading for pleasure. The inaugural day will be on the 4th of November 2010. For more information about the NNF Day go to nnfd.org/

Eden Project launches "Real Cool Futures" website

The Eden Project has launched Real Cool Futures, a new careers resource for secondary schools. Designed to inspire 14-19 year olds about their future, this interactive website invites young people to discover how, during their future working life, they could use their talents and skills to make a positive impact on the planet.

"Love Football: Love Reading" toolkit available

Tom Palmer, the author of the "Football Academy" series and "Foul Play", has created a toolkit for schools to use to maximise the opportunity presented by the World Cup to get kids reading. It includes details of a variety of activities, displays and book groups that can be used. To download the toolkit from the National Literacy Trust website click here.

New online version of "Who Else Writes Like...?"

LISU at Loughborough University have created a new online version of the popular book "Who Else Writes Like...?". This can serve as a valuable tool for recommending new authors to students who have read everything by their favourite author(s). Though the site does not cover authors who write exclusively for children it does have a sizeable number of authors of "crossover" fiction who are indicated as such. Annual subscriptions are available from as little as £5. For more details (including a free 7 day trial) go to www.whoelsewriteslike.com/

New UNISON manifesto

UNISON have released a new manifesto for education libraries with a central pledge to "keep libraries at the heart of learning". For more information download the manifesto (PDF file, 0.97 MB)

Free author posters for schools

A new scheme called Read2excite is offering schools the chance to download and print off promotional posters featuring a range of talented authors, including Mark Robson, Ali Sparkes, Peter J Murray and Sam Enthoven. To register to receive your free posters please visit the website at www.read2excite.co.uk/