21 May 2018

Beanstalk and ASCEL (the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians) announced today that they will be working together to help more children and young people increase their enjoyment of reading. ASCEL is the national network of senior managers in Children’s Public and Schools Library Services, who work together to ensure that all children have access to books and are inspired by reading.

Beanstalk will be working closely with regional chairs and local ASCEL members to make contact with relevant schools and libraries to ensure that Beanstalk reading helpers (volunteers) have access to excellent resources when supporting children who have fallen behind in their reading. ASCEL and Beanstalk will also be working together to source local funding avenues. The partnership will also benefit Beanstalk’s staff, allowing them to use libraries for meetings with colleagues, volunteers and potential supporters of Beanstalk.

Ginny Lunn, Chief Executive for Beanstalk, says: "It’s wonderful when two organisations come together and work with each other to achieve the same aims. Beanstalk and ASCEL both seek to ensure children have access to books and have the necessary skills to read these books. This is an exciting step forward for Beanstalk and will enable us to reach even more children in the heart of the communities."

Sue Ball, ASCEL National Chair, says: “ASCEL is delighted to be working in partnership with Beanstalk to help children increase their enjoyment of reading.  Both organisations encourage and enable children to practise and improve their reading so that they become confident readers.  Good reading skills help to support children as they transition through school. The partnership will enable both organisations to work together to seek opportunities for improving reading support in schools in local communities.”

If you would like to find out more about how you can get involved in your local community and support children who need to improve their reading skills, please have a look at our volunteering pages.