The School Library
Our library offers a warm and welcoming space at the heart of our school where students are invited to unwind with a good book, study independently and join in with clubs and activities.
We house a large collection of fiction books that include best-selling novels, manga, comics and dyslexia-friendly titles. Our non-fiction collection is also extensive and supports our curriculum subjects as well as providing entertaining texts on students’ interests.
Students can borrow up to four books for a period of three weeks. Books can be renewed if they are not overdue or reserved by another student. We don't charge fines if books are overdue, but we ask that they are returned on time as other students may be waiting for them.
The library is open every day at lunch and break times. Our wonderful team of student librarians are on hand to issue books, receive returns and make recommendations. We’re also open after school for Homework Club. At other times during the school day, the library is available to sixth formers for independent study and also plays host to English lessons for Years 7 and 8.
Throughout the year, the library provides a variety of activities to engage students in bookish fun and encourage both keen and reluctant readers.
Sora
Sora: eBooks and Audiobooks
In addition to our physical library, students have access to Sora - a vast digital library of ebooks and audiobooks. Students can access Sora anytime from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
Please follow the instructions below to sign in to Sora.
- Install the Sora app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store (suitable for phone and tablet), or go to soraapp.com
- Find Amersham School. You will be prompted to do this a second time from the ‘Carnegies Shadowing’ list.
- Sign in using your school credentials. Your username is your school email address and your password is your school account password.
- Once in Sora, you can use the ‘Explore’ tab to browse the library of eBooks and audiobooks and borrow items. Any eBooks and audiobooks you borrow will appear on your ‘Shelf’.
- Access a bigger library by clicking on the menu and selecting ‘Add library’. Select ‘Buckinghamshire Libraries and Culture’. You may be prompted to sign in again using your school credentials. For your ‘Card Number’ type in your school email address, and for you ‘PIN’ type in your school account password.
You now have access to a library of thousands of eBooks and audiobooks! Should you have any questions about Sora, please email jpepler@amershamschool.org
National Year of Reading 2026
Amersham School is proud and excited to support the National Year of Reading. This is a Government-led campaign that aims to help us (re)discover the joy of reading and make it part of our everyday lives. It encourages us to ‘Go All In’ and use reading to inspire us to delve deeper into the things we love, from playlists and football to films, food and fashion. For more information, visit: Go All In
To kickstart the campaign at Amersham School, a survey was rolled out at the start of the year to find out about student reading habits, preferences and interests. This has given us the information we need to invest in reading resources that will truly inspire and excite our students and connect with their interests. To help fund this project, we’re asking you to consider making a voluntary contribution towards developing our library resources. Your generosity will help ensure we can ignite and fuel a life-long love of reading across our school community. Please refer to your ParentPay account where you’ll be able to make a donation. Huge thanks for your support!
Harry Potter Book Day
Harry Potter Book Day celebrations: Visit from actor, Robert Wilfort
As part of our Harry Potter Book Day celebrations, students were treated to a lunchtime talk by our visiting celebrity actor, Robert Wilfort. Here is Rose and Venice’s (Year 9) report on Rob’s visit:
“Rob is best known as Jason from Gavin and Stacey, but he’s also Rita Skeeter’s photographer in the film ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. He said he enjoyed it and had the full Harry Potter experience including meeting Hedwig and Hagrid’s dog, Fang, along with all the famous actors. Daniel Radcliffe, who was around 14/15 at the time, would mostly only talk about music! Rob told us that when they filmed the final task in the Triwizard Tournament, he accidentally bonked Alan Rickman on the head with his camera and received a terrifying Professor Snape stare! It was amazing to hear all about life on the set of Harry Potter. We really enjoyed meeting Rob!”
Huge thanks to Rob for enthralling and inspiring us Harry Potter fans!
Harry Potter Book Day celebrations: Hogwarts House Quiz
This year’s annual Harry Potter quiz took students on a trip down Diagon Alley where they were challenged to various tasks in the different shops. Devised and hosted by our very own master of magic, Professor Wilson, the quiz proved more fun than any game of quidditch! Here’s Ela’s (Year 9) summary of the event:
“The long-awaited day came as we all gathered in our decorated library. Mr Wilson began explaining to us about what we had to do, from stacking ice-cream sundaes in Florean Fortescu’s to navigating our way through Gringotts’ maze of tunnels! The lunchtime ended with a blast of green confetti announcing that Slytherin house had won, and then chocolate frogs and Berti Bott’s Every Flavour Beans were handed out. The experience was amazing!”
Bookbuzz
Creating a buzz about books!
All new Year 7s start their reading journey at Amersham School with a free book that’s gifted to them through the BookTrust’s Bookbuzz programme which, this year, has been generously funded by the ASA.
During library induction lessons in September, students were able to choose their free book from 16 Bookbuzz titles. These included award-winners, dyslexia-friendly titles and graphic novels. Orders were placed and the books arrived later in the Autumn term as an early Christmas present. Students were then invited to take part in the Bookbuzz Challenge with rewards for reading the books and taking part in creative activities.
Bookbuzz is an excellent programme for encouraging book talk and increasing reading motivation. More details can be found on the BookTrust website: HERE
Author visits
Opportunities to meet authors provide a powerful means to engage students with books. This year, to celebrate World Book Day, we were delighted to welcome award-winning author and cBeebies ‘Swashbuckle’ star Joseph Elliott to speak with Year 7s and 8s. Students were treated to a fascinating talk about Joseph’s journey to becoming a published author. He also introduced us to the captivating fantastical world in which his books are set and read from his Carnegie-nominated novel ‘The Good Hawk’.
Last year, we played host to more authors – multi-million bestseller, Chris Bradford who performed a Samurai sword display as part of his talk about his Young Samurai books; Carnegie Medal winner, Tia Fisher, who spoke about the shocking story behind her book ‘Crossing the Line’; and Carnegie-nominated author, Adam Connors, who shared his writing journey with us when he came to open our newly refurbished library. We’re keen to provide lots of opportunities for students to be inspired by the brains behind their favourite books!
World Book Day 2026
World Book Day 2026
To celebrate this year’s World Book Day during the National Year of Reading, we decided to ‘go all in’ with two weeks of bookish festivities! These included a school-wide scavenger hunt to discover teachers’ favourite reads; a book character themed dress-up day for students and staff; quiz activities in the library; a trip to the Bucks Book Awards ceremony; and a visit from award-winning author Joseph Elliott. The energy and excitement generated by these activities over the two weeks was phenomenal. It was a joy to witness so much chatter about books across our whole school community, helping students to see reading as a shared and social experience in which we all love to indulge.
Bucks Book Award 2026
Bucks Book Award 2026
Every year, Amersham School joins other schools across the county to take part in the Bucks Book Award where we vote for our favourite book. In March, a group of students from Amersham School were lucky enough to attend the awards ceremony. Everyone was treated to a talk by Carnegie-winning author, Tia Fisher, and then participated in the ‘Big Bucks Book Award Quiz’ where we were proud to have two of our students on the winning team! At the end of the ceremony, the winners of the coveted Bucks Book Award title were announced: ‘What Happens Online’ by Nathanael Lessore and ‘Shadow Thieves’ by Peter Burns, coincidentally Amersham School’s favourite!
