As the first term draws to a close, Emma, our library assistant at St Roch’s Secondary has written a post about how they celebrated Wee Read!
A great deal of exciting library activity has taken place in St Roch’s Secondary School Library this term, including the marking of East & South East Asian Heritage Month and Deaf Awareness Month in September, followed by Black History Month in October.
A particular highlight was the celebration of Wee Read, a Scottish Library and Information Council initiative which encouraged people across Scotland to read together on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. In preparation for the event, student library volunteers helped decorate the library, blowing up Wee Read balloons and creating a themed display complete with booklists, bookmarks, stickers and a Wee Read pledge board. All staff were also invited to visit the library and sign up for a staff library card.
Also, for Wee Read, St Roch’s Secondary School Library hosted a lunchtime reading of Katya Balen’s autumnal novel October, October, which was promoted to the whole school through the morning tannoy announcements. To reflect the protagonist October’s love of hot chocolate, students attending the event were treated to a cup of the beverage, which they drank with great enthusiasm. Following the reading, students responded to a series of discussion prompts displayed on the projector, encouraging them to explore the extract’s themes of storytelling, nature and connection. Hearing students passionately discuss their thoughts and interpretations with one another transformed reading into a genuinely shared experience, demonstrating how books can foster conversation, curiosity and a stronger sense of community.
Alongside the lunchtime event, teaching staff across the school shared another short extract from the novel with their classes during the final six minutes before interval. Although the ongoing painting of the school has resulted in significant disruption to library services, it also gave me the pleasure of seeing one teacher read the passage aloud to their class while they were temporarily based in the library. That brief pause for reading felt particularly special, serving as a timely reminder of the respite and interconnection books can provide as the colder, darker months begin to draw in.
