Win £1,000 / €1,000 for your school’s library
Nominate your school to #rebuildthelibrary with one of our five huge prizes. Plus, you could win a £100/€120 National Book Token for yourself!
As our friends at the charity Read for Good® will tell you, it's well established that reading for pleasure leads to significantly better outcomes for children – boosting academic performance, enhancing wellbeing, and fostering vital life skills like empathy.
But reading for pleasure is in decline. In 2025, just 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoy reading in their free time* – a sharp drop over the past two decades. At the same time, the work Read for Good® do in schools shows that many school libraries are underfunded, outdated, and filled with books that fail to engage today's readers. Children who rely most on school libraries are often those most likely to be missing out.
It's time to #rebuildthelibrary.
Our annual prize draw is back to give five schools across the UK and Ireland the chance to win £1,000/€1,000 in National Book Tokens and fill their shelves with new and inspiring books.
Nominate a school using the form below, and if yours is one of the five winning entries, you'll also win a £100/€120 National Book Token to spend in your favourite bookshop.
Plus: to celebrate the UK's National Year of Reading, we're giving away even more prizes so that more schools – and more children – have a chance to enhance their libraries and Go All In on reading.
Each week until 24th June, we'll pick a flash winner – selected at random from all entries – to receive a £100/€100 National Book Token for their school, and £25/€30 for themselves! Keep an eye on our emails, and follow us on Facebook, to see who wins each week.
Congratulations to our first weekly flash prize winner: Appleton Thorn Primary School in Warrington, Cheshire. The parent who submitted the winning nomination commented, "We have a wonderfully well-used library but many of our popular books are becoming elephant-eared, which is worse than dog-eared!"
* Annual Literacy Survey 2025, National Literacy Trust"School budgets are increasingly tight and to complete the refresh we need to, we just don't have the funds. To have the greatest impact our book stocks need a complete overhaul and to do this we need financial support."
Teacher
Get more nominations for your school
Remember, the more nominations your school receives, the greater their chance of winning – so don't forget to spread the word!
Download banners for your school or PTA newsletter and social channels, as well as posters to display in and around the school – plus share this page on social channels and in your school newsletter – to encourage other school staff, parents and carers to nominate your school.
Banners and posters are available in English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish.
Download banners and posters
Thank a Teacher Day is on 17th June
We've partnered with the Thank a Teacher campaign to give you the chance to thank teachers and support staff... and win even more National Book Tokens for your school!
Is there someone at your child's school who makes a real difference each day? Maybe they've sparked a love of reading, brought stories to life, or simply helped make school life more fun.
National Thank a Teacher Day on Wednesday 17th June is a chance to thank teachers and support staff across the UK.
Did you know? If you send a free personalised e-card, you could win £500 in National Book Tokens for your school! Just visit thankateacher.co.uk to send your card, and have it delivered in time for the day.
This prize draw closes on 17th June 2026. UK only. For full terms and conditions, visit thankateacher.co.uk. Thank a Teacher runs all year round.
Send a free e-giftMeet last year's winning schools
Dundonald Primary School, Belfast
"We are absolutely overjoyed to be a lucky winner of the #rebuildthelibrary competition. We have recently just worked very hard to update and open our brand new school library. With this wonderful prize we are really looking forward to filling it with new books that cater for all ages and abilities, promoting reading for pleasure and foster a love for reading amongst our pupils. Thank you so much!"
Tim Bell, Literacy Co-Ordinator
Meols Cop High School, Merseyside
"A huge thank you to National Book Tokens for this incredible prize! We've recently relaunched our school library, and these generous gift cards will allow us to provide our students with the much-needed resources they've been wishing for. Their excitement has been growing as they've been sending in requests for a library wish list – and now, thanks to your support, those wishes are coming true."
Sarah Horsfall and Sam Newell, Library Leads
St Luke's School, Hertfordshire
"Thank you so much to National Book Tokens for such an amazing prize! It means so much to us as an SEND school. We can provide an exciting array of specialised books tailored to our students which will benefit and support the school as a whole for many years to come."
Lisa Paterson
St Mary's C of E Primary School, Cornwall
"This incredible prize will allow us to spark imagination and adventure for our children, turning our library into a vibrant destination where curiosity thrives and every visit inspires a love of reading and discovery. One of our librarians, Lowenna, said 'Books make me feel special. It is a privilege to be able to read lots of books. I think every child deserves to be able to read a book.' We are looking forward to sharing our purchases with our whole school community, and will be inviting parents and carers to join us in celebrating an exciting new chapter for our library."
Laura Calcraft, School Administration Manager and Clerk to the Governors
Ysgol Llywelyn, Denbighshire
"We are incredibly grateful to National Book Tokens for their generous donation of £1,000 in gift cards and £300. We will be using this to support the redevelopment of our school library. Your support will help us to continue inspiring a love of reading and learning in our school and wider community – on behalf of all of our pupils, families and staff we would like to say a massive thank you for helping us to make a positive impact in our school."
Stuart Jones, Deputy Headteacher
Read for Good® and National Book Tokens have worked in partnership for many years, bringing the joy of being able to choose and keep a book to thousands of children.
- Thousands of schools run Readathon® because it's a proven, fun way to get pupils reading for pleasure. Money raised through Readathon supports Read for Good to bring the magic of books and stories to children in hospitals and schools across the UK.
- Get reading inspiration from their Books we love page – ideal if you're buying new books for your school – and sign up to Read for Good's updates and 'Books we love' newsletter for book giveaways, reading inspiration, author events and more!
- Explore the wonderful world of books through their Reading Journey posters – created to appeal to pupils who are not sure what they'd like to read.
- Apply for one of Read for Good's Brilliant Box of Books, helping schools and community settings in need get a boost of books!
- For all this and more reading resources, perfect for the National Year of Reading, go to readforgood.org.
National Book Tokens have inspired booklovers for more than 90 years, empowering readers to choose just the right books for them. National Book Tokens gift cards are accepted in hundreds of bookshops across the UK and Ireland, and online.
Available to purchase in bookshops, supermarkets, or online – including personalised and e-gift cards, and Bookily – there are designs for booklovers of all ages and for all occasions. National Book Tokens gift cards are produced on FSC-certified card, have an expiry of 8 years from last use, and expired cards can be replaced.
Find out how National Book Tokens can be used by schools, colleges and universities to reward, inspire and incentivise children and students.
2025
- Dundonald Primary School, Belfast
- Meols Cop High School, Merseyside
- St Luke's School, Hertfordshire
- St Mary's C of E Primary School, Cornwall
- Ysgol Llywelyn, Denbighshire
2024
- Baldragon Academy, Dundee
- Astrea Academy, Doncaster
- Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna, Dublin
- Kingsbury Green Academy, Wiltshire
- Malmesbury Primary School, Tower Hamlets
2023
- St John's and St Peter's Academy, Birmingham
- North Huddersfield Trust School, Huddersfield
- Scoil Bhríde Lann Léire, Co. Louth
- Sporle C of E Primary Academy, Norfolk
- Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn, Llandudno
2022
- Archbishop Temple Church of England High School, Lancashire
- Batley Girls' High School, West Yorkshire
- Finn Valley College, Donegal
- Hanslope Primary School, Milton Keynes
- Star of the Sea RC Primary School, Tyne and Wear
We're proud to support the National Year of Reading
If you're into it... read into it! In 2026, every adult, young person and child are invited to Go All In – to discover how reading can make the things you already love even richer.
Gift cards
Give a gift beyond words for any occasion
There's a National Book Token for every reader and for every occasion, from birthdays to Bat Mitzvahs.
About us
Thank you for helping us support reading for all!
By choosing National Book Tokens, you're supporting our work with literacy charities and prizes.
Discover
Discover brilliant books for children
Browse book recommendations, activities and quizzes for young readers, plus win exciting prizes!
