Kendal papermaker James Cropper has donated £3,000 to its local primary school.
St Oswald’s CE Primary School in Burneside officially opened its newly refurbished school library last week in front of friends of the school and guests including Sir James Cropper.
The new library includes a hand painted tree illustration created by local wildlife artist, Phil Allder. The artwork has been created with a range of animals for the children to find and identify.
Following an audit of the existing reading list, there was a need for age-appropriate, contemporary books to fill the shelves.
James Cropper’s donation helped pay for the library’s modernisation, the new fiction reading material and also non-fiction work.
Having made paper since 1845, books are an important part of the James Cropper story, the firm said.
Mark Cropper, chairman at James Cropper, said: “Libraries are an integral part of school life and encouraging children to read from a young age is so important, particularly in a world where everything is accessible digitally. We should never forget the value of picking up a book and feeling the paper between our fingers. There is something so special about that!
“Having been a family-run Cumbrian business making paper for over 175 years, it is important that we always play our part in supporting the local community and helping our local school invest in its library facility is a contribution that is close to our heart.”
Gill White, headteacher, said: “The library refurbishment demonstrates our school’s passion for reading and the commitment we have to encouraging our pupils to enjoy reading. Now, thanks to the support and help from James Cropper we can offer children a modern, beautiful setting to enjoy stories of all kinds.”
