Dolly Parton had first-hand experience of the effects of limited literacy. Her father could not read or write. He was, she once said,
This sentiment fueled her passion for encouraging childhood literacy. It drove her to establish the Imagination Library, with the goal of inspiring “a love of reading and learning from a young age."
Launched in 1995, the Imagination Library sends children enrolled in the program a free, age-appropriate, culturally inclusive book in the mail every month from birth until their fifth birthday. The program began in Sevier County, Tennessee — Parton’s home county — before spreading across the world.
It has established roots in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ireland.
To date, the Imagination Library has distributed 318 million books, with 3.4 million books sent out monthly across these regions.
The Australian program was officially launched in 2013 and now operates in more than 430 locations. Currently, nearly 50,000 Australian children are receiving a free book every month.
Building foundational skills For the past five years, I have been working firstly on a research project in Tamworth into the effects of the Imagination Library program. As Head of Research at United Way Australia, distributors of the Imagination Library in Australia, I am not involved in the delivery of the program itself. All the data I analyzed was de-identified.
The Tamworth region has produced rich data on early childhood literacy. It boasts 98% enrollment of newborns in the Imagination Library program.
The research conducted in Tamworth was then extended to a global sample. Data has been collected from over 86,000 caregivers across the five countries the Imagination Library is delivered in. This study is currently the largest dataset in the world on shared book reading in the home.
One of the key findings from Tamworth was that the program encouraged caregivers to read to their children. Compared to the average Australian child, children in the Imagination Library in Tamworth were found to be read to more often, for longer, and have more books in the home. Further, these early reading routines were maintained.
The worldwide evidence showed that children enrolled in the Imagination Library were significantly more likely to display foundational early literacy skills and to develop an interest in reading compared to those not on the program.
In Australia, enrolled children were found to be nine times more likely to be interested in books, 17 times more likely to join in during shared book reading, and six times more likely to demonstrate key emerging literacy skills than those who were not enrolled.
No comments:
Post a Comment