St. Benedict's High School Library

For Empathy Day last week a group of S1's met up with pupils from other Renfrewshire schools and presented on how reading can improve mental health, develop empathy, and make us kinder and more understanding people. Well done to all the pupils who volunteered to speak!

Amazing author sessions from @tompalmerauthor & Joseph Coelho last Friday as part of @BookPaisley!

Happy World Book Day, 2025! @stbenedictsren

Social Subjects celebrating world book day with a homage to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll @stbenedictsren #WorldBookDay

We got a huge delivery of books this week that are now catalogued and ready to be read for the first time!

Paisley Book Festival is seeking creative and inclusive ideas for events to be part of the programme for the 2025 Festival, taking place 25-27 April. The theme for 2025 is The Lives We Live. Proposal Deadline: 15-Nov at 5pm Click the link for more info: tinyurl.com/PBF25CallOut

Is your child 2,3 or 4 or turning 2 in the next 2 months? The last @dollyslibrary book order this year will be placed on 1/11 for December book deliveries. Children registered after this will receive their first book in January. Register now at imaginationlibrary.com/uk 😊📚

Our annual parent/carer survey and accompanying competition closes tomorrow night. This is your last chance to share your views on Imagination Library in Renfrewshire and to win our 'Boo Bag' 😊📚👻🎃

@stbenedictsren pupils - still time to enter our 'Halloween Spooktactular' short story competition - closes Thursday 31st!👻🎃

Congratulations to St Charles' ELCC - the latest establishment to achieve 100% registration of children to Imagination Library. Here are some of the children sharing their favourite books from Dolly. Happy reading everyone! 😊📚

This week in the library, Julie from @DollyLibraryRen brought the queen of country herself to talk to senior students about taking part in the amazing Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Students taking part will be doing some storytelling with nursery classes throughout the year.

Last Friday we were also lucky enough to have author @EveAinsworth in the school. Eve talked about how she became a writer, the important history of women's football in the UK, and answered questions from students interested in writing.

A huge congratulations to Mariya Javed, S3, who tonight was awarded the Janet Coats Memorial Prize for her poem “To My Brother”. @BookPaisley @stbenedictsren

Today in the library we were lucky enough to have a visit from author @margaretmcpens as part of the @BookPaisley. Margaret gave us a sneak peek at her upcoming debut novel 'Glasgow Boys'. Students (and staff!) also created their own characters with tips from Margaret.

Today a fab group of students helped Mr. Love pick up new books for the Library at @WaterstonesGla. Thanks to all the staff there for being so helpful and giving great recommendations!

1.) Shirley Jackson - Her chilling short story ‘The Lottery’ published in 1949 sparked public outrage. Jackson is regarded as a master of gothic horror and psychological suspense, and was a profound influence on modern authors like Stephen King, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Neil Gaiman.

Margaret Atwood - A writer that excels in creating creating complex and nuanced female characters who defy expectations. She is perhaps best known for her dystopian novel 'The Handmaiden’s Tale' (1985), that explores a future where women are forcibly assigned to produce children.

Today is International Women's Day! To celebrate, here are 5 women writers who have made a massive impact with their writing. Come into the Library to find out more about them.