“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”

– Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941)

We recently acquired a collection of books from the library of Professor Ronald Illingworth (after whom the Illingworth Library is named) and Dr Cynthia Illingworth! The 107-book collection includes multiple editions of their publications, in languages including English, German, Japanese, Greek, and Italian. If you would like to browse the collection, you can do so in the library — just ask the library staff. Additionally, if you spot any errors in the cataloguing of books in languages other than English, please let us know so that we can correct it!

Below are some new library acquisitions — see here for more recently added books. To borrow any of these books, please join the library (if you haven’t already).

This month’s reading group book is Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. The book is a memoir in two parts, documenting the narrator’s life in the two cities; there is some ambiguity surrounding what is fact and what is fiction, with Orwell later commenting that some sections were observations rather than personal recollections. The meeting will be held in the library and on Teams on Wednesday 24 June — contact the library if you would like to join.

Following is a selection of awareness events coming up in the next month.

This report from The Centre for Social Justice explores the physical activity of primary school-aged children. It gives recommendations on how activity can be incorporated into school life, as well as outlining current policy and the cases for this to be changed by the government.

The UK Health Security Agency has recently updated its guidance for health professionals on the public health management of pertussis, or whooping cough. It includes a variety of resources, including guidance on testing for pertussis in primary care and a template letter to send to parents and carers.

This report for the Centre for Mental Health discusses and evaluates the myHappymind programme, which ran in early years and primary school settings in Bradford, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight. Findings indicate that the programme supported children to develop their self-esteem and wellbeing, as well as their emotional regulation skills. It also provides recommendations for policymakers on how such programmes can be embedded in schools nationwide.

Under new government proposals, children and teenagers will be subject to ID checks when attempting to use sunbeds. The new proposals would also require health warnings to be clearly displayed and disinformation, such as claims that sunbeds prevent sunburn, to be banned. These rules could potentially be in place by 2027 at the earliest.

This journal article, from the journal Paediatric Respiratory Reviews, looks at the prevalance of vaping among UK teenagers. It details a local service evaluation that took place within a paediatric emergency department, which found that only 7.2% of 11–16 year olds seen were asked about their smoking habits. It goes on to discuss why these rates of enquiry might be so low, and how this could be addressed.

(For SCH staff — if you are having trouble accessing this article, you can request the full text through the library by filling out this form. You will need to be a member of the library to use this service.)

This blog post from the Nuffield Trust discusses the difficulties some older teenagers face when in the transition process from paediatric to adult care. The authors propose solving this issue by extending paediatric care to the age of 18, following discussion on this topic at the 2026 RCPCH annual conference.

The UK’s leading documentary festival returns to Sheffield! DocFest will run from 10–15 June, featuring over 100 films. See the link for more details on the programme.

Weston Park Cancer Charity are inviting people to tie a ribbon in memory of a loved one on their Bridge of Remembrance in Weston Park. The event is running from 30 May–30 June and will raise money for the charity — see the link for more information.

I recently read What Am I, A Deer? by Polly Barton. Having read some of her translations previously (she translated Butter, among others), I was looking forward to reading her fiction debut, and it didn’t disappoint. Written in a stream-of-consciousness style, it follows an introverted translator and karaoke lover living in Frankfurt, who develops an all-consuming crush on a man she briefly meets on her morning commute.

Due to annual leave, next month’s post will be published on Friday 3 July — look out for it then!