A disused changing room at Keighley’s Holy Family Catholic School has a new lease of life after being painstakingly transformed into a reading centre.

The new facility, which has been called ‘Imagine’, was launched at a formal opening ceremony attended by pupils, staff and governors.

Holy Family headteacher, Lawrence Bentley, addressed the guests. “We can only imagine what it must be like to be in a neighbouring school such as UAK or Oakbank, which is or will be in a spanking new building,” he said.

“But despite not having those luxuries, we do have in our school tremendous vats of imagination, which means we can use this crumbling space to the best of its capacity.

“I’m delighted to have staff who have the foresight and imagination to make the best use of the spaces we have.”

He explained the school previously had a large, centrally located library, but the area it occupied has been turned into a study centre to cater for Holy Family’s expanding sixth form.

“The books needed to find a new home, and we’ve found that home in the most unlikely of places,” he added.

The reading room was opened last Thursday by Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, who is the vice-chairman of Holy Family’s board of governors.

He said he hoped it would encourage as many young people as possible to love and appreciate the power of the written word.

Head of English, Maxine Gordon-Jarrett, said the remaining empty shelves should soon be filled.

She added: “We’d wanted a big enough area that was accessible, quiet and had to have natural light. Mr Bentley made this lovely space available to us.”

She expressed her thanks to the school’s site team, English department staff and business manager for bringing the project to fruition.