Free to be left on the shelf

4th September 1998, 1:00am

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Free to be left on the shelf

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/free-be-left-shelf
WHO ARE the naive optimists who think that Scottish teenagers are going to switch on to the likes of Iain Banks, Robin Jenkins or A L Kennedy just because three free copies of their books are placed in school libraries (TESS, August 28)?

It is impossible to persuade most youngsters to get beyond horror stories and ghosted biographies of footballers. There are some queer goings on in the books by modern Scottish authors, but the none of them has the appeal of Stephen King. I suggest that the Scottish Arts Council is about to waste the lottery money which it will spend on this project.

Oh, but I forgot. Pupils have to have something to put in their review of personal reading for Higher English. That must be the real reason for the spoon feeding.

Claire Simpson King Street, Aberdeen

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