Dolly mixture helps children read
Shepherds Bush pupils have been offered a free book every month until they turn five thanks to country legend, Dolly Parton. Randolph Beresford is the first centre in the novel scheme, which is expected to begin in May, and if successful, could be rolled out across the borough.
She is bubbly and blonde – but youngsters in London will only associate one B with country and western legend Dolly Parton. And that’s ‘books’. Children at a Shepherds Bush nursery will become the first in the capital to benefit from a literacy charity set up by the superstar.
Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, in Australia Road, Shepherds Bush, will host a pilot of the Imagination Library, which provides children with a free book each month from their birth until they are five.
The scheme is expected to begin in May and, if successful, it could be rolled out across the borough.
The singer/songwriter – who is famous for hits such as 9 to 5, Jolene and I Will Always Love You – launched the scheme in her home town of Sevier, Tennessee, in 1996. The programme, which aims to encourage reading among pre-school children, now distributes more than six million books per year to 500,000 children in the USA, Canada and Britain, regardless of their family’s financial situation.
H&F councillor Antony Lillis said: “Dolly Parton is loved everywhere for her music, and now she is going to be loved here for her books. Getting lost in a book is an amazing, imaginative and personal experience, and Dolly’s charity is a brilliant way to get children from all backgrounds to read.”
Randolph Beresford Centre’s head, Michael Pettavel, said: “This is a wonderful project. We know what a difference high quality books can make to children when they become part of their everyday lives.”
The scheme works by local sponsors paying for children in their community to receive the books. The Imagination Library sends an age-appropriate book chosen by a panel of experts directly to the child’s home every month. That works out at 60 free books by their fifth birthday, when the child receives a special ‘graduation’ book.
In 2007, Rotherham Council became the first UK authority to join the Imagination Library, which is part of Dolly’s umbrella charity, the Dollywood Foundation. More communities have signed up over the past 18 months.
Dolly has said previously that the Imagination Library was born after seeing the struggle many of her friends and neighbours had with literacy in her home state of Tennessee.
She told h&f news: “The seeds of life’s dreams are often found in books and I hope that my Imagination Library will inspire children to keep dreaming and dream big. If we can help turn the dreams of a child into the promise of a bright future, then one of my biggest dreams will come true.”
