Youngsters at a Hampshire school are celebrating the opening of a new library.

Pupils at Norwood Primary in Eastleigh have been given a much-needed boost in the form of a brand new £40,000 Discovery Centre.

It now means that pupils at Norwood Primary School will be able to read books and then research them online.

The new centre, funded by Hampshire County Council, comes after the school doubled in size from 225 pupils to 450.

As part of the expansion pupils have now moved back into the its original Victorian building on Chamberlayne Road.

Head teacher Rosemary Diskin saw the expansion as an opportunity to combine IT with literacy.

She said: “School places are at a premium because of all the new homes so the council asked us to expand.

“We couldn’t fit a whole class into our old library. But now children will now be able to use the IT facilities whilst surrounded by books.

“They will have stories at lunchtime and later this year we will invite parents and grandparents in so that the children can show them how to use the internet.

“So it will be a community resource as well.”

The library has been designed in a woodland theme.

Ms Diskin added: “Because we’re an urban school we wanted to bring woodland into the school.

“We have no green space and as we’re expanding we wanted to make some for them.”

The library was designed by the company BookSpace For School.

Company spokeswoman Jane Jackson said: "We create libraries that inspire kids to grab a book.

“We’ve used all wooden bookcases, and the tables are designed like trees.

“There’s a storytelling table where children can create a story by looking at the design.”

The new facility has proved a big hit with pupils at the school.

Year six pupil Ben Thickbroom said: “I like it because if you read a book, you can find out more on the computers.”

And classmate pupil Anika Singh added: “I love the decorations and it’s really attractive.”