Our Library

Read. Research. Relax. Revise.

Reading is an important part of each day at Jane Austen College. Every day there is available time for students to read for pleasure. All students are encouraged to carry a reading book with them throughout the day, and a reading book of your choice is included as part of the required student equipment list. 

We are very proud of our library at Jane Austen College, and it is central to the everyday life of our school. The library is usually a quiet, calm place. It’s a place where you can escape, away from the usual hustle and bustle of school life. A place where you can just sit, think, reflect, and enjoy a few moments with a good book or speak to our librarian to ask for tips or advice on what to read next. Our aim is to support all of our students, promote literacy and encourage a love of learning.

In the library we have a wide variety of high quality fiction, and non-fiction texts that help stretch, challenge and inspire students around specific academic subject areas. These resources help to engage students and keep them informed of what they should be reading, could be reading, and what comes next. 

Every half term KS3 students will have a library lesson where our librarian will recommend books or provide a deeper context session on the text studied in class. For example, when year 9 study An Inspector Calls, we look at the class system of Post-Edwardian England, using real life examples such as the Titanic. This helps students, when reading the text, to get a deeper understanding into the history of the time period and the story.

There are plenty of ways to get involved in our library -

• Junior Librarians
• Literature Trips
• Reading Clubs
• Creative Writing

Over the school year the library runs various activities and events. Weekly events such as quiet reading sessions and book clubs and yearly events such as our Harry Potter night (complete with live animals!), and trips to The British Library, the home of Charles Dickens, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter, all inspire and encourage students to develop reading, writing and study skills.

Our Librarian is Mr Robert Welton, pictured above. 

"Where to start? Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... I love reading. I adore being able to enthuse students to pick up a book and get lost in the story. I have been in the book business for almost 20 years as a bookseller and now as a Librarian. I often get asked for my favourite book - that's an impossible task. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Dumas Club... I'll read anything once!"

Read Mr Welton's feature in the EDP listing students top 10 fiction books in 2022