Camilla turns to poetry to inspire young to use libraries
THE Duchess of Cornwall entertained children at a public library yesterday with a poetry session.
With glasses perched on the end of her nose, Camilla,71, read to pupils from three Wiltshire primary schools. She chose Come Into the Woods, a poem penned by local author Alfred Williams who died in 1930: "Come into the woods, the wild birds are singing, The white hawthorn's scent wafts into the wind, The skylark is up and the sheep-bells are ringing, Young Pleasure's before and old Sorrow's behind." The Duchess was visiting North Swindon Library in her role as patron of the National Literacy Trust.
While there she met the winners of the Trust's Lost Words poetry competition.
Swindon has been the scene of bitter battles to save its libraries from closure.
The Trust says access to free books is vital to improving reading skills. It found that children who go to a library are twice as likely to read well as those who do not.
Author and illustrator Steve Antony, patron of Swindon libraries' children's reading services, said: "I cannot begin to say just important it is for children to have access to a public library.
"One of the reasons I try to do as much as I can with the libraries is to make children and adults aware of what's on offer." The Daily Express has launched a crusade nationwide to save libraries.