20 Mar 2018 North Central Review (Kilmore), Melbourne (General News) by Brooke Haffenden A SCHOOL community campaign in gel a library Is one step closer I hanks 10 an In vestment boosi ol 190,000 Irom ihe slale govemmenL Member lor Northern Vlclorla .laclyn Symes and Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green visited the school last Friday, March IS, to present the cheque and celebrate the announcement with students, teachers and parents at the school assembly. The funding will mean the school cancreate a new permanent library space that Is large enough to support Us volunteer-run lunchtlme library service as the library Is currently temporarily housed In a small classroom space. Over the past several years, the school has raised $50,000 through various fundraisers. Principal Sue Egan said ihe students wrote letters to their local mem bers of stale and federal parliament raising the Issue of ihe need for a school library. Parent .lodle Hopper, who has children al the school, also raised this Issue with Ms Symes late last year and led ihe campaign. Ms Egan said the students were excited about ihe new library. Were absolutely delight- ed to be receiving ih is granl for our students and were hoping this will inspire their love of reading, she said. T d like l o thank Jaclyn Symes, Danielle Green and Rob Mitchell for support ing us wiih ihe gram and I also want lo thank ihe Department of Education for allowing funding lo go through so we can have I his very valuable resource for our school. Two of ihe students who had written letters took ihe time lo thank Ms Symes and Ms Green al the assembly. The new library will be a huge benefit for our school. II will help students Im prove in reading and it also helps us have lots of choice for class novels and books. Zara Shinn-Mahoney said. We never d reamed though I hat ihere would soon come a grant of 190,000. We once again lhank you for taking this cause seriously. There was a huge amount of enthusiasm and excitement in our school when It was announced by Ms Egan lhal we had gol a grant lo go towards a new library. We are very grateful that you took our letters approvingly and raised them In parliament. We believe that as soon as our library gets built all our readers will shoot like stars to become advanced readers and even authors, Kate I lopper added. Ms Symes said libraries form an integral part of any school community and commended the school for Us effots. This Is a spectacular result for Upper Plenty Primary School who had not only raised funds towards the project, but students and parents also approached their local state and federal Labor Members for assistance, Ms Symes said. Ms Green said the upgrade will provide students ihe firsl-rale school facilities I hey deserve, while building community pride in a fan las lie local school. ll Is exciting to see Upper Plenty Primary School get ihe funding it needs lo build a new library thai will be a wonderful resource for its students, she said. Caption Text: New chapter (front) Upper Plenty Primary School captains Zoe Stokes and Cooper fork and (rear) Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes, principal Sue Egan and Member for Yan \fean Danielle Green are excited about the new library.Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.