Reading is my superpower: Student from Budmouth Academy designs a bespoke special edition Dorset Library Card

Hector holding the special edition library card he designed

Children from schools in Weymouth and Portland, known as the Chesil area, now have an exciting new reason to visit their library.

All year seven children from schools in the Chesil area, are awarded bespoke, superhero library cards to foster a love of reading and encourage them to make use of their local library, where they can get involved in events and activities.

Dorset Council and the National Literacy Trust teamed up to support the literacy development of Chesil pupils earlier this year. 

Councillor Laura Beddow, Portfolio holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services, said:

“This is a fantastic project to get children excited about reading and engaging with books, we can’t wait to welcome them into the library!”

Local student, Hector, who started at Southill Primary School and went on to attend Budmouth Academy, won a creative writing competition to design the project’s mascot. Hector’s winning entry of ‘Billie the Hamster’ was brought to life by professional illustrator Phil Sheppard and is featured on the special edition library card.

Mike Leyland, Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Dorset Council, the library service and schools to help support reading across Chesil. We hope that this unique library card and competition will encourage young people to make the most of their fantastic local libraries inspiring a love of reading that will last a lifetime.”