The free book scheme by the Imagination Library provides every child in the scheme to get a book every month, starting from birth, up to the child’s 5th birthday. It was Dolly Parton, the legendary singer of country music, who started the library scheme in 1996, in America. In 2008, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council rolled out the scheme. 20,662 children had registered by last March. The Isle of Axholme launched a pilot scheme officially, recently. They hope to roll out the scheme across the region later on.
The project manager at Rotherham’s Imagination Library, Mr. Alison Lilburn, believes that the scheme has improved results in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile over the past 4 years in Rotherham, making Imagination Library a valued partner in improving literacy standards here. The positive effects of the scheme has already been felt in USA, where it was first started. Four to five year-olds who had been given the books were found to show more progress in reading and writing than those children not under the scheme. The university of Alaska conducted a study to ascertain the impact that the scheme had. Findings showed that 51.7% of participants were reading to their child in the day for once or more. After getting the books, it increased to 81.3%. In Rotherham, 58.8% of school children made 5 levels of progress under the scheme, against 51.4% not on it. Many principals, teachers and parents too have spoken positively of this great free book scheme by Imagination Library.
