AFTER more than 22 years sharing her knowledge and love of literature with pupils, experienced librarian Penny Giddings has retired from Dame Allan’s Schools. 

Mrs Giddings joined the Schools in February 2000 and was instrumental in cataloguing all books onto the library’s electronic system.

She worked at both the Junior School and Senior School sites, and helped with the amalgamation of the DABS and DAGS libraries in 2007. She also regularly encouraged pupils to enter national reading competitions.

She said: “I will miss the pupils very much; there’s no greater job satisfaction than a child asking for your help to choose a book and then coming back, having read one, to rave about how much they enjoyed it.

“My advice to all pupils would be: learn to love reading for pleasure, because there’s nothing better than being absorbed in a good book! Those who read for pleasure are boosting their academic learning and mental wellbeing without even realising it; books are packed full of interesting facts and knowledge.”

Each year, Mrs Giddings has entered teams of pupils into the Kids’ Lit Quiz, an international, annual literature competition, and more recently the National Literacy Trust’s National Reading Champions Quiz (NRCQ).

Last year, Dame Allan’s won the regional heats of the NRCQ and made it through to the national finals. Librarian Amelia Joicey said: “Taking part in and winning the regional heats made me very proud of Mrs Giddings and the pupils involved; there were 592 teams nationally and we got through to the final 18!”

Speaking about her retirement, Mrs Giddings, who worked at a university library prior to joining Dame Allan’s, added: “I’m certainly ready to retire. I’d like to travel and I’ve got hundreds of books that I haven’t had time to read… until now!”