International acclaim for Stopsley school librarian named unsung educational hero

The year got off to an award-winning start for Stopsley High School librarian Lana Wrigley, who was named as an Unsung Educational Hero in a programme that shines a light on inspirational teachers all over the world.

Lana – whose official title is Learning Resources Centre Manager – triumphed in LiteracyPlanet’s global Educators Wall of Fame 2022.

The modest 26-year-old said she was unaware she’d even been nominated: “So receiving the email confirming I’d won was a lovely surprise.”

She established the school’s Reading Partners programme, giving older students the opportunity to support younger ones. This has not only improved their reading, but has also built confidence in older students’ leadership abilities.

Luton-born Lana, who attended Stopsley High herself as a teenager, did a BA in English and creative writing at Birmingham and an MA at the University of Warwick.

Her parents instilled her love of reading with lots of visits to the library, and she and her sister were encouraged to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge every year.

Her LiteracyPlanet citation states she is ‘extremely patient’ with weak readers and Lana believes this is due to her parents being foster carers.

She explains: “I got a lot of experience living alongside young people from a variety of different backgrounds.

“Helping take care of them definitely taught me a lot about staying calm and patient – good preparation for working in a school environment.”

After being employed in Hertfordshire’s public library service, Lana joined Stopsley High in September 2021 and started the Reading Partners programme a few months later.

She recalls: “A similar scheme had been in place but was disrupted by Covid. Myself and my line manager, who’s literacy lead across the whole school, were keen to replace it.

"Sessions take place at the start of the school day, before the first lessons. Younger students read aloud to the older volunteers.

"They’re encouraged to choose books from the library shelves . . . ones which fall into the reading range assigned to them and covering a broad range of topics like romance, horror and comedy.”

This year the Reading Partners programme plans to introduce a new rota of activities, including collective reading and news article quizzes.

Lana was delighted to see that some of the older students used their participation to complete their volunteering requirement for the Duke of Edinburgh award.

She adds: “It was heartening to hear from students how much they enjoyed taking part because too often reading is viewed as a chore. And seeing their growth in confidence has also been lovely.”

Her own tastes run towards fantasy and science fiction but she says she tries to inject some variety now and again by reading non-fiction and other genres.

She also loves going to concerts and the theatre and is devoted to her dog, Koda.

She’s received a certificate marking her significant achievement and a badge to attach to her email signature but says: “The biggest reward was definitely the sense of recognition from my line manager and LiteracyPlanet itself.”