LEIGH Library opened its doors to superheroes, princesses, Mr Fox and even Mary Poppins to celebrate World Book Day last week.

Pupils from Leigh CE Infants School came dressed as their favourite book characters and even got to walk the plank after they listened to pirate stories.

Cath Pedigrew, Supervisor at Leigh Library said: "The day was all about having fun, because you have got to interest them in reading while they are at a young age.

"All six of the school classes came down and they all really enjoyed it.

"With kindles and Ipad’s although it is still reading, nothing beats the pleasure of turning the page on a book."

Meanwhile at Fred Longworth High School pupils became detectives for the day as they got stuck in to a back to back day of reading games.

Rosemary Broadbent, resources centre manager said: "We had lots of activities throughout the day in the library.

"We had a Guess Who's Coming To Dinner game, so we set up a dinner table in the library and had six people around it and the children had to guess who the character was from the clues they were given.

"We also had a detective game using the non-fiction books so the children had to solve the mystery by being given the section code that the book was in in the library. They really enjoyed that.

"In total we had about 150 children come to the library throughout the day.

"We try to encourage reading and tell the children that it is a basis for everything in life. If they can't read they are going to have problems in the wider world.

"I think it’s all about showing them enthusiasm with reading and giving them a choice as to what they want to read.

"We have a suggestion box in the library for pupils to put in requests for books and I find that most children like reading fiction books.

"We make sure we have a good stock of everything in though and heavily emphasise the importance of reading to make it just second nature to them."