The Library

 

Visit the JHN Library app here 
to explore the dashboards for
different year groups, renew your books
and to search our library online. 

 

 

 

 

SJHN Library is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm. (3.15pm on Fridays) and also at breaks and lunchtimes. There are computers and a dedicated printer for student use, and carefully selected collections of fiction and information for our young people. Years 7, 8 and 9 have fortnightly library lessons as part of their English timetable. Library lessons encourage students to develop strong skills in reading and to enjoy engaging creatively with books and information. 

JHN Library promotes reading for pleasure and for independent learning. We know that when students develop a habit of reading for pleasure, this is a key indicator of both their future academic success and their wellbeing. The librarian partners with teachers to help students explore their interests and become critical users and thinkers. 

Our student librarians help to run the library at break and lunchtimes. The library also hosts a Christmas book fair to enable students to buy their own books at discounted rates, and author visits at different times during the year help to promote reading and professional writing and illustration. 

To welcome Year 7 students into the JHN reading culture, new students are gifted a book by Jenny Pearson to read over the summer holiday. The school has a special ongoing relationship with the author, who visits the school each Autumn term for a celebration assembly and a chance for students to meet her and personally sign their copies of her book. 

We also shadow various awards such as the North Herts Schools Book Award and hold our own #onebookJHN celebration each spring term. In previous years, we have welcomed authors Tom Palmer (After the War) and Patrice Lawrence (Needle). In March 2025, we enjoyed a visit from Sonia Leong, a Manga illustrator and creator of our #onebookJHN for 2025, Manga Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.