School libraries and their skilled librarians deserve a higher profile. Far too often, the work they undertake, the opportunities they provide and the relationships they build with young learners remain under-appreciated and unacknowledged. They merit increased recognition and respect in our education system. For those teachers who are fortunate enough to work in schools with vibrant libraries and experienced librarians, their not inconsiderable value is evidenced on a daily basis. International research evidence affirms this, revealing that school libraries and librarians contribute to young people's literacy skills and attainment, their pleasure in reading and their wellbeing (e.g., Barratt, 2010; Williams, Wavell and Morrison, 2014).

In offering a brief Foreword at the start of this engaging and practical book, I focus on the ways in which school librarians nurture young people's reading for pleasure – their volitional reading. This contribution is crucial because it is now widely accepted that there is a reciprocal relationship between reading for pleasure and reading attainment (Sullivan and Brown, 2015; Chema, 2018). The will influences the skill and vice versa. Those young people, in primary or secondary schools, who are intrinsically motivated to read, and who choose to read for pleasure frequently and in their own time, will fly further and faster than their peers who do not. As Stanovich (1986) simply stated: ‘Reading makes you smarter’.

Higher reading levels are not only associated with stronger academic outcomes, better employment and economic prospects (OECD, 2009), but are also associated with health benefits, including life expectancy and lower costs nationally (Billington, 2015; Boyes et al., 2016). Other benefits include wider general knowledge (e.g., Mar and Rain, 2015), enhanced imagination, empathy and mindfulness of others (e.g., Kidd and Costano, 2013) enriched narrative writing (Sénéchal, Hill and Malette, 2018), and new reader to reader relationships that can serve to create communities of readers (Cremin et al., 2014). Thus, multiple personal, social and emotional benefits, as well as cognitive ones, accrue for those young people who choose to read. So, whilst the role of the school librarian encompasses far more than supporting the desire to read (within and beyond school), I would argue that nurturing reading for pleasure is the school librarian's primary responsibility.