St Mungo’s Academy library is a part of a wider library project called “The Library Young Team- Libraries LYT up lives!”

This project runs concurrently in 10 secondary school libraries across Glasgow and Renfrewshire, with each school hosting 3 author sessions for S3-5 pupils. These sessions emphasize the advantages of reading, inspire teenagers to find connections between their experiences and the books they read, and assist them in navigating their thoughts, emotions, and feelings. The author sessions will delve into themes that resonate with their daily lives, ensuring relevance and engagement.

The three authors, Graeme Armstrong, Brian Conaghan, and Alan Bissett, serve as positive male reading role models. Their books delve into gang culture, covering topics such as reputation, respect, and retaliation. The sessions will focus on harm reduction by exploring the reasons why young people join gangs, including the desire for acceptance, protection, a sense of identity, and feelings of belonging.

St. Mungo’s Library had the privilege of hosting Brian Conaghan on the 21st of February. His work primarily focuses on the lives and relationships of working-class teens, as well as characters who exist on the margins of society. During his presentation, he inspired our S4 pupils by sharing his journey of overcoming challenges with words and reading to achieve success as a writer, despite facing adversity along the way.

The session sparked a curiosity in our youth- two of them were inspired to borrow his book!

We are looking forward to the upcoming visits from the two other writers and we hope that they will generate equal, if not greater, enthusiasm towards reading and literacy.

This Project is supported by the Scottish Government School Library Improvement Fund.