Libraries and school-age children 52. Although this Committee has not focused on the role of libraries in formal education, public libraries have, since their inception, provided resources for learning and have naturally developed links with the formal education sector. Libraries play a key role in children's education through public libraries and school libraries. The provision of a school library service is not explicitly included in the legislation on the public library service.
Public libraries have a responsibility to provide facilities for pre-school children.
Responsibility for book purchasing is delegated to the 5,900 secondary school libraries in the United Kingdom, but there is a great deal of variation between authorities in the service provided. Twenty-five per cent of local authorities have set up Homework Clubs in public libraries to provide school children with after school access to resources that may not be available in school libraries. Libraries are encouraged to bid for funds to support study scheme initiatives. Public libraries were crucial to the National Year of Reading initiative, which was launched in September 1998. The educational role of libraries leads naturally to an overlap of interest and responsibility between educational and cultural services.