A school library stuffed with more than 10,000 books has opened following a £84,000 investment.

The new facility at The John Wallis Church of England Academy in Ashford received financial support from the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet and book firm BookLife.

School principal Damian McBeath said: "After 18 months of interrupted learning and multiple lockdowns, we wanted to do something really special for the children in our community.

"Having spent the vast majority of the past year communicating via screens, we want to get books back into children’s hands, lots and lots of books.

"This library has been made possible by the generosity and goodwill of others alongside our own investment.

"The actual Library itself has been funded and constructed through an incredible amount of generosity from Peter Corr and McArthurGlen Designer Outlet. The books were match funded pound-for-pound by the generosity of BookLife."

The library, which will serve the 400 pupils that attend the lower school, was built by AW Construction, who contributed £9,000 towards building costs alongside £15,000 from McArthurGlen.

Books worth £30,000 were chosen by the school, with a further £30,000 of reading materials then supplied via the BookLife match funding.

Peter Corr, centre manager at the Ashford outlet, said: "It has been great to work alongside AW Construction and BookLife to bring the library to life."

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