Woldingham School New Library

READ, RESEARCH, RELAX

Set in the heart of Woldingham’s stunning 700 acres, our purposebuilt library, opening in autumn 2024, is the perfect place for the whole community to read, research, relax and flourish. With views across the Woldingham valley, the new library has space for hundreds of new books adding to the school’s already extensive collection, stimulating selection

of periodicals, as well as access to a wide range of electronic resources and online journals for academic research. Recognising the importance of reading for pleasure on academic attainment and personal wellbeing, the new library will be a hub of discovery and delight, whether it’s within the pages of a classic novel or the latest best seller.

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of a library.

Jorge Luis Borges, writer and translator

EXPLORE, ENGAGE, ESCAPE

The fabulous double height space with floor to ceiling windows provides a stimulating yet calm environment. Like every successful school, our library is its beating heart. It’s a place for study and academic endeavour, exploration and escape, as well as a retreat from the busy school day.

Designed by specialists with input from students and staff, the library has spaces for quiet contemplation, study and reading nooks. It’s a special place where the whole community is welcome, whether it’s to curl up with a favourite novel or develop research skills as part of an academic project.

Where you learn can impact on how well you learn. To be successful, the learning environment has to be a physically and emotionally comfortable space.

Dr Helen Bilton, University of Reading

STIMULATE, STUDY, SUSTAIN

Set directly opposite Marden, Woldingham’s Lower School, near the ever-popular play area, the new library is an ideal place for reading for pleasure, conveniently located for our younger students to nourish their love of literature and encourage reluctant readers to become bookworms. The new building is a short walk from Marden’s dining hall, perfect for a library visit before or after lunch.

With space for many more books – both fiction and non-fiction –there’ll be some difficult decisions on what to read first. After choosing from the huge range of literature, specially curated for teenage girls, students can sit in one of the two cosy booths more often seen in university libraries, at a table surrounded by books, or by one of the huge windows with sunlight pouring in.

I love going down to the library, the feel and smell of books.

Joseph Fiennes, actor

FUEL, FOSTER, FLOURISH

In contrast to the increasingly fast pace digitally connected world, when just a few years ago the death knell sounded for printed books, there’s been a resurgence in the appeal of physical books, alongside evidence that people remember more from reading print than from a screen. As the world becomes digitally mature, Woldingham’s new library seeks to find a balance, where printed books, journals and magazines sit happily side-by-side with instant online access to the world’s leading academic thinkers and research.

The library won’t always be quiet; it’s also a space for visiting writers, poets and authors perhaps inspiring students to become novelists, journalists and writers, like students of the past such as best-selling writer Ore Ogunbiyi, biographer Artemis Cooper, and BBC journalist Caroline Wyatt. Our mantra is for each student at Woldingham to #WriteYourOwnStory. Our new library is the ideal place to start, whether that’s as a writer or something completely different.

Your library is your paradise.

Desiderius Erasmus, Catholic theologian

Visiting poet, Kimba

WRITE, WONDER, WISH

As a place for study and academic endeavour, reading for pleasure and a sanctuary from the busy school day, the location and design of the library are ideal. But will the stunning, expansive views over the valley from the enormous windows across the entire front of library be too distracting for some? The solution might be a study booth away from the window. For others, the beautiful views promise to inspire wonder and imagination as well as enhance wellbeing as students soak in the vista, catching glimpses of deer, rabbits and huge variety of birds alongside green fields, trees and newly planted vineyard.

That perfect tranquillity of life, which is nowhere to be found but in retreat, a faithful friend and a good library.

Aphra Behn, playwright and poet

SOCIAL, SCHOLARLY, SAFE

Open and staffed from early morning until the evening, the library will be a hub for scholarship – intellectual curiosity, learning and inquiry. An integral part of Empowered Learning, the school’s bespoke approach to teaching and learning, the library will support stretch and challenge enabling students to thrive.

In our increasingly busy world, the library will be a safe, calm and welcoming space, where students flourish and their wellbeing nurtured.

The library is the heart of a school, and without a librarian, it is but an empty shell.

Jarrett

J

Krosoczka, author and illustrator

LIBRARY ODE

New eyes each year

Find old books here, And new books, too, Old eyes renew; So youth and age Like ink and page In this house join, Minting new coin.

Philip Larkin

#WriteYourOwnStory

Marden Park, Woldingham, Surrey, CR3 7YA

(for satellite navigation please use postcode CR3 7LR)

01883 349431 info@woldinghamschool.co.uk woldinghamschool.co.uk