YOUNG bookworms will be able to travel to distant kingdoms, back in time, and meet captivating characters at their school's £11,000 new library.

Harwell Primary School unveiled its new book bonanza on Monday after a major transformation which aims to put reading at the heart of school life.

Having been in post for more than two years, headteacher Bryn Gibson said it was wonderful to start seeing the changes he wanted to make since taking on the role.

He said: "We want our children to have a love of reading and an interest in exploring the wider world, and being able to read gives them access to whole other scope of ideas and subjects.

"We want them to be inspired and give them every chance to explore an author, or topic they are really interested in."

Mr Gibson, whose own favourite childhood book was The Hobbit, said the library had been deliberately moved by several classrooms so it became more of a focal point of the school.

He added: "Before it was tucked away a little bit and like all things that are not on display, it got a bit neglected.

"But now we have thousands of books, both fiction and non-fiction, for them to take back to their classes and top up their own class library.

"We want all of our pupils to have access to books and poetry that might not be in their own class libraries.

"It is essential that they have choice, which will inspire their imaginations."

Oxfordshire poet James Carter visited the school on Monday to cut the red ribbon and host poetry workshops throughout the day.

It is not the first time the school has welcomed a successful author to engage its students in the joys of reading.

Mr Gibson said: "Recently we also welcomed Jo Cotterill, author of Electrigirl.

"She was fantastic and it is a great opportunity for the pupils to see success stories and give them ideas of their own."

The new Key Stage Two library is only half of a bigger project.

Plans are also in place for the revamp of the Key Stage One library, expected to be finished in the spring.

Mr Gibson added: "We were fortunate enough to enjoy the council's mobile library service which has since unfortunately stopped.

"The children loved going onto the bus to get their books so we thought it was imperative that we compensated for the loss of this service by having a more centralised library with even more books."