Concord’s library has been celebrating its fifth birthday with a special cake and balloons. Head librarian Mrs. Anne Williams said the library at Concord had seen changes since it opened in 2010.  Anne would love to hear your comments about how you used the Library when you were here or how it felt to work in such a lovely space so please use the comment box below.

One change the Library has seen since opening was the dramatic increase in borrowing of books and other educational materials over the last five years. Borrowing per student had risen from four in 2009/10 to over 14 in 2013/14 and nearly 7,000 items in total were borrowed in 2013/14 compared to just under 2,000 in 2009/10.

The most popular fiction book borrowed is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and the most popular non-fiction book borrowed is Medical Ethics by Tony Hope.

She said that other improvements since the library opened included more study space, open access catalogues, a computerised self-issue system and the number of e-books and digital publications now available for students to access.

She said at the time of opening that a lot of thought, research and consultation had gone into the planning of the library.  Turning those plans into a safe, workable and aesthetically pleasing reality with which students and staff were happy had been ‘quite a complex operation.’

“Whether students just want to send a quick email or simply relax with a good read, I believe they are enjoying the new library’s bold design and finding it an inspiring space to help make their time at Concord even more special,” added Mrs. Williams.

One of the first visitors to the library upon its opening was Wolverhampton author Paul Dowswell who was at Concord to discuss with students his latest book Auslander.

Mr. Dowswell remarked at the time ‘how fortunate’ students were to have such modern and impressive study facilities, including a careers room with conference table and computers.

Pictured celebrating are some of the library’s top borrowers (Angus Li, Megan Teoh, Jade Low, Mr Woods, Amy Godbold, Jo Lynn Chong and Karen Phoong). Many thanks to Mrs Kathryn Weaver (pictured below with her daughter Jessica, Mrs Williams and Karen Phoong) who made the ‘cake of books’ which was shared amongst the students in the dining hall as no food is allowed in the library!



To see some images of the library over the last five years visit the main school website or click Library in 2015