Some key research evidence and recommendations

The Library is the heartbeat of the school.
Martyn Coles, Head Teacher of the City of London Academy, January 2007. ( http://www.sla.org.uk/advice-quotes.php ) 

My vision of learning for children and young people in the future has the library, in all its forms, at its heart.
Professor Tim Brighouse, in School Libraries: Making a Difference, 2003, 

It has been demonstrated that, when teachers and librarians work together, students achieve higher levels of literacy, reading, learning, problem solving, and information and technology skills.
UNESCO/IFLA School Library Manifesto, 2000, 'Mission of the School Library' section. http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/manifest.htm

 In the most effective primary and secondary schools visited, libraries and well trained specialist librarians had a positive impact on teaching and learning.
Good School Libraries: Making a Difference to Learning (Ofsted, 2006), Key Findings, Page 2. http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/2624 

All secondary school libraries should be staffed by at least one person with a professional library qualification and knowledge of children's literature.All primary school libraries should be staffed by at least one person with a qualification in children's literature.
Book Trust 'Library Books in Schools' report, October 2007. 

Around the school, an attractive and well-stocked library is often an indicator of effective support for pupils’ wider reading and information retrieval skills………… the teacher’s attitude to reading is central to increasing pupils’ enjoyment of and participation in reading.Ofsted: Reading, writing and communication, 2011

All schools should ………develop policies to promote reading for enjoyment throughout the school
Ofsted, Moving English Forward, 2012

Children who read most frequently for fun were also those with the highest score on PIRLS.  PIRLS - Reading all over the world  

Being more enthusiastic about reading and a frequent reader was more of an advantage, on its own, than having well-educated parents in good jobs. PISA 2000 - Reading for change 

Research shows that reading for enjoyment is “more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status. OECD, 2002

The way to get children reading is to leave the library door open and let them read anything and everything they want. Terry Pratchett