Children and young person's library

We have a range of books for children and young people of all ages and abilities including:

• board books and picture books for sharing with very young children
• Read Alone books which are short chapter books to support children learning to read
• classic and the latest best selling junior and teen fiction books
• dyslexia friendly books
• graphic novels
• information books to help with learning, homework, hobbies and interests
• health and wellbeing books including Reading Well for children and Reading Well for young people

Activities for Children and Young People

Keep up to date with our library activities for children and young people on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Bookstart

Bookstart is a national programme by BookTrust that provides every child in England and Wales with a free Bookstart pack before they are 12 months old and again when they are aged between 3 to 4 years to encourage a love of stories, songs, and rhymes. To get your free Bookstart pack ask your local library, health visitor, or Family Hub for details.

Swimming in Books

Swimming in Books is a 2 year project delivering fun, interactive activities to young families promoting the love of reading. Swimming in Books will have you jumping into books, through creative story time play sessions, a family fun day and book gifting promotion through the Tees Active Learn to Swim programme.

It's never too early to join the library. Bring your baby and toddler along to any Stockton-on-Tees Borough Library and enjoy:

• dedicated junior areas
• no fines or late returns
• a great selection of picture books available on our Spydus website
• fun library activities

Schools Offer (Nurseries, Primary and Secondary)

We offer a range of activities for school children to get involved in.

Stockton Children's Book of the Year

This award celebrates the best in children's fiction. Each year, five books are shortlisted by library staff and shared with children in Years 5 and 6 from Primary Schools across the Borough to vote for their favourite. If your school would like to be involved, more information can be found on the SCBY website or contact Angela Foster, Children and Young Person's Librarian angela.foster@stockton.gov.uk  

Author visits and Northern Children's Book Festival

When we have author visit opportunities available, we will contact all local schools with the information. Authors who have previously visited Stockton include Andy Windham, Eloise Williams, Guy Bass, Sufiya Ahmed, Dan Smith, Vashti Hardy, Gabrielle Kent, and Eoin Colfer.

Every year we also take part in the Northern Children's Book Festival during the second and third week of November, which includes more author visits. For more information on this festival, visit the Northern Children's Book Festival website.

School Visits

We deliver a range of high-quality sessions to schools, including an introduction to the library, library skills and story time.

National Storytelling Week, World Book Day, Empathy Day, Road Dahl Day and National Poetry Day are all great opportunities to invite members of our library team to your school or to arrange a school visit to your local library. 

Contact your local library to arrange a visit.

Dementia Awareness sessions

We can deliver Dementia Awareness sessions to primary-aged children, looking at memory loss through story time, memory games, and object handling. The sessions provide a positive message to children regarding memory loss and dementia, which is affecting an increasing number of families and links to the Dementia Friendly Communities Campaign.

For more information, please call Karen Morris on 01642 526518 or email karen.morris@stockton.gov.uk  

Time to Read

Time to Read is a BookTrust campaign providing a free book pack for children aged 4 to 5 to share and enjoy with their family and friends. This pack will be delivered directly to each primary school by the end of the Autumn term. We can also help your school provide a fun book gifting session.

World War 1 commemoration

Study packs based on Stockton-on-Tees during World War 1 are available to support school studies. The packs include recommended reading lists and school sessions using object handling and literacy-based activities. For details contact Stockton Reference Library on 01642 528079 or reference.library@stockton.gov.uk 

Children's University

If your school is registered for the Children's University, Stockton Libraries is a validated Learning Provider and your pupils can collect hours at library events and groups. For more information visit the Children's University website.