The power of libraries
Author Jeff Kinney thinks everyone should see themselves represented in books.
In the UK, one in seven primary schools don’t have a library. The National Literacy Trust, a charity that works with schools and communities to give children skills in literacy (the ability to read and write), is hoping to change that. In a new campaign, it has said the Government should provide funding to improve libraries in every primary school in the UK.
As part of this campaign, Jeff Kinney, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, recently visited two schools in Blackpool, England, to open special Wimpy Kid-themed libraries. The visits were part of a tour of the UK, where Kinney celebrated the power of libraries and reading. He told The Week Junior, “I think it’s really important for a kid to see their own experience reflected back to them in the pages of a book. Everybody needs to see themselves represented.”
During Kinney’s tour he hosted two No Brainer shows, which were game-style events inspired by his latest book. There were different games for children, teachers and librarians. The winners of the games received books or money for their local libraries. Kinney said he found the whole campaign rewarding.
Kinney remembers that he had a library at his school growing up. At the time he didn’t realise how lucky he was but that has changed now. “I think that reading just enhances your life, it makes you more interesting as a person,” he said.
“It helps you to step into somebody else’s mind.”
No Brainer is the 18th Wimpy Kid book, about Greg Heffley’s plan to save his school from being shut down by the town. Kinney says that although he didn’t keep a diary when he was a child, he got the idea for Greg’s story when he started writing a diary in his mid-20s. He said, “Without my own journal, I don’t think Greg’s journal would have been born.”