One Year On: Celebrating the First Year of the GLL Literary Foundation

It’s a year since GLL launched the GLL Literary Foundation to support early career children’s authors, inspire children to engage in reading and to champion public libraries. Rebecca Gediking celebrates its achievements, and looks forward to year two of this effective initiative.

During our first year, GLL Literary Foundation supported 20 children’s authors to deliver over 60 events in Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, Dudley and Lincolnshire, engaging more than 3,000 children and over 500 adults in reading.

What the Foundation offered authors

Authors in areas where GLL manage public libraries (Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, Dudley and Lincolnshire) received a £750 bursary, alongside tailored, in kind support valued at up to £4,000. Each author was paired with a librarian Literary Foundation champion who provided mentoring and guidance throughout the year, helped shape sessions, and supported introductions to schools, booksellers, festivals and local partners.

Authors also received training sessions delivered by our Start Up Business teams on managing finance, marketing and essential business skills.

We worked closely with publishers, literary agencies and industry partners to further develop the programme across the year and provide a wide range of opportunities. Literary Foundation authors performed at festivals, spoke at conferences, attended publisher events and award evenings.

A particularly special moment came at the Carnegie Awards, where Wandsworth  Foundation author Nathanael Lessore won the Carnegie  Shadowers’ Choice Award Medal for King of Nothing. It was a proud day for Nathanael and for the Foundation, and it felt especially fitting that the award reflects the voices of children and young people.

We celebrated publication milestones including the release of two new titles from GLL Literary Foundation authors. We were delighted to celebrate Bethany Walker’s Medusa’s Bad Hair Day and Alom Shaha’s About Time.

What authors and champions told us

In our end-of-year author questionnaire, 100% of authors said they felt well prepared and supported to deliver events, all authors had grown in confidence in managing the practical business elements of their work and authors shared that they had seen an increase in book sales. Literary Foundation authors also reported being given more opportunities to work due to promotion and contacts made through the GLL Literary Foundation.

A real highlight of the Foundation for the authors was meeting other authors, sharing stories and forming a network of support. One author reflected on the value of the opportunities created through the Foundation, sharing: ‘Working with the GLL Literary Foundation has already made me feel like I am back where I belong with a lively literary community championing the work of early career authors. It has also renewed my sense of hope and reassured me that I will be able to continue and sustain my career as a children’s author.’

Literary Foundation Champions have also reflected on their experiences with 100% of them responding that they enjoyed working with authors and communities to bring stories and new partnerships to life. Libraries have seen an increase in book borrowing and one of our Literary Foundation Champions said that after an event a family immediately joined the library and the children proudly ran back to show the author their new library cards. Miriam Storey, Greenwich Literary Foundation Champion, said: ‘A network of support has grown across all the GLL library partnerships both for the authors and the GLL Literary Champions… Feedback and discussion is encouraged… and this enriches the experience as well as fuelling future ideas.’

The feedback from schools who we engaged with to deliver events has been hugely positive.  After a live session with Bromley author Adeola Sokunbi, a parent/helper at Harris Primary Academy Kent House said: ‘The children were inspired by Adeola and loved her stories. Adeola created a fun and attention-grabbing session, her enthusiasm was infectious.’ Another teacher in Lincolnshire highlighted the power of local connection, sharing: ‘The children loved that Mary Auld knew Spalding and they could talk about being from the same place!’ These comments reflect exactly what we hoped the programme would achieve, where meeting an author becomes a moment of connection that makes books feel exciting, relevant and personal.

Looking ahead to year two

As we move into year two, we have established a new offer to provide continued support and opportunities for all 20 authors from our first cohort and we have opened applications for new authors to join us in 2026 the National Year of Reading. Applications for the 2026  author placements opened in November 2025 and are now closed.

We have big plans for year two and have established new partnerships to support authors, inspire children to read and to champion public libraries. We’re excited to keep building on everything we’ve learned in our first year and we can’t wait to keep you updated on our journey throughout the National Year of Reading.

If you would like to collaborate with us and be part of our network, please email us at: Literary.Foundation@GLL.org

More information is available here.

Rebecca Gediking is Head of Libraries – GLL, Head of GLL Literary Foundation