As the first term draws to a close, Liv, our library assistant at Bannerman High School, has written a post about what’s been happening in the library!
Bannerman High School have had such a fun and exciting first term. Thanks to our AMAZING Library Assistants and Library Leaders we have seen some fun displays such as Roald Dahl Day, National Coding Week, Maths Week Scotland, Banned Books Week, and East & South-East Asian Heritage Month!
We have been getting into the Autumn and Halloween Spirit in the last few weeks with our cosy Autumn Vibes and Halloween Displays. All of our current displays can be browsed online on the Bannerman Library Collections Padlet, which will be updated regularly.
However, our most memorable and fun moment from this term has to be the S3 Reader Leaders creating a fun Halloween ‘Pumpkin Ticket’ competition where readers can find a pumpkin ticket in certain books. If they finish the book and answer one question correctly, they win a prize. There are 5 tickets to be found. Will you be lucky and find a ‘Pumpkin Ticket’ in your next read?
As the first term draws to a close, Serena, our library assistant at Eastbank Academy, has written a post about what’s been happening in the library!
Term 1 at Eastbank has been a pleasure!
The school has fully embraced the library being open again and English classes are coming to borrow books at least three periods a day, and Fresh Start, Journalism, ESOL, social subjects and home economics have also brought classes to borrow books! The library is also a vibrant hub of activity with senior pupils in every period studying, and MCR Pathways making full use of the space!
The Creative Writing club has started and increased from fortnightly to weekly due to pupil request, and a group of dedicated library volunteers come weekly to help make new displays, scan books, tidy up shelves and make recommendations.
The Wee Read event was a huge success- we had a display and tannoy announcements and bookmarks and stickers given out in the library and in English classes. In addition, pupils were particularly excited about the pop-up free book giveaway we had in the library made up of lots of donated books.
It was also exciting to hear how other departments celebrated Wee Read – an R.E. teacher read a 6 minute extract from Harry Potter with his classes as they discussed similar themes in class, and the ESOL group came to the library to choose books and wrote down 3 words from their book each that they didn’t know to learn and discuss together. Several teachers also came to make a library card and borrow books!
As the first term draws to a close, Kayleigh, our library assistant at Smithycroft Secondary has written a post about what’s been happening in the library!
All S1-S3 classes have now completed their library inductions, helping them become familiar with the space, our resources and how to borrow books. It has been fantastic to welcome every class in these year groups to the library for their borrowing periods! We hope these visits have encouraged more young people to discover a love of reading and explore new authors and genres.
This term, the library has also been celebrating and promoting a range of important cultural and educational events. We marked South and South East Asian Heritage Month with displays and resources highlighting the rich cultures, histories and achievements of communities from across the region. We are currently celebrating Black History Month, showcasing books and information that recognise the contributions and experiences of Black people throughout history and in contemporary society.
The library was also delighted to take part in the school’s first Culture Day. Our library stall helped celebrate the many cultures represented within our school community and provided an opportunity for pupils to engage with books and resources that reflect the diversity of our world.
In addition, we are currently celebrating World Space Week with themed displays and resources designed to spark curiosity about space exploration, science and discovery.
One of the highlights of the term was welcoming poet Sean Wai Keung to the school. Sean delivered an engaging and inspiring poetry workshop for a group of S2 and S3 pupils, encouraging them to explore creative writing, identity and self-expression through poetry. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience and produced some fantastic work during the session.
As we move into the next term, we look forward to welcoming even more pupils into the library and continuing to provide opportunities to read, learn, create and celebrate the diverse interests and experiences of our school community.
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.
We have now reached the end of our first full month of term, and the libraries have been abuzz with activity!
September was full of brilliant reasons to visit the school library – from Maths Week to to Roald Dahl Day – and our incredible library assistants really took the time to make each event special!
Roald Dahl Day was marked in several schools with some fantastic displays. A fun fact about Roald Dahl: did you know he was an actual chocolate taster for Cadbury when he was 13? As part of a focus group at school, he was given a box of chocolates to test! It was one of the things that inspired him to write Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
St Paul’s High SchoolBannerman High SchoolHyndland SecondaryKing’s Park Secondary
National Coding Week took place in September, from the 14th – 20th. This event promotes the importance of learning digital skills. Did you know? Ada Lovelace wrote the very first computer programme in 1843!
Maths Week Scotland marked its 10th anniversary this year! Getting involved with Maths Week is a great way to promote the library and its resources to subjects which often are not well-connected to their school libraries. The school library at Shawlands Academy really got stuck in this year and helped to facilitate the Maths Passport and raffle activity. Pupils answered maths questions from each school subject, and filled passports were entered into a prize draw!
Shawlands AcademyShawlands Academy
The fun wasn’t just happening at Shawlands though! Other schools set up displays and took part in their own activities as well.
King’s Park SecondaryHillhead High School
With all the excitement around the various events in September, you might think your school libraries didn’t have time for anything else! Well, you’d be wrong. Check out some of the other great displays and activities going on across the city.
Hyndland Secondary Bellahouston AcademyLochend High SchoolLochend High SchoolBannerman High SchoolHillhead High School
Welcome to the new Glasgow School Libraries’ GLOW Blog!
We’re a few weeks into the 26/27 academic year, and there are some new faces about! After a service review and redesign, you might notice your school library is open more often now than it has been in the past. That’s because we have thirty brand new, bright-eyed Glasgow Life Assistants staffing your school library, and as a result, many schools have received an increase in service days.
Your Glasgow Life Assistant (GLA for short!) will be on-hand either three or four days each week, so you can visit the library with your classes as well as during your breaks and lunch. They’ll host various clubs, introduce new S1s to the library, and create lots of fun displays to highlight the wonderful selection of books.
They’ve been hard at work already, getting to know the schools and the books. Check out some of the great displays already out there!
St Roch’s Secondary
Bannerman High School
Hyndland Secondary
Knightswood Secondary
St Paul’s High School
Springburn Academy
Cleveden Secondary
Lochend Community High
King’s Park Secondary
Drumchapel High School
Eastbank Academy
Smithycroft Secondary
Cleveden Secondary
The Edinburgh International Book Festival has made several events available to livestream and some schools have been taking part from the comfort of their school library!
Here’s what some folks had to say about the events:
“A fun event that encourages pupils to explore new authors.” “It was a lovely event. I’d love to run something like this more regularly. An S1 pupil even came back after school to check who had won.” “… a fun and informative event.”
We’ll be updating this site throughout the year, highlighting all of the exciting things happening in school libraries around Glasgow. Make sure you keep checking back to stay up-to-date!
