Free books for babies – thanks to Dolly Parton

3 hours ago

Ross PollardSomerset

News image — Teacher Nikki says books can set a child up for life

BBC A smiling woman with blonde hair is holding her sleeping baby in her arms while sitting on a sofa. She is in a community building, with lots of leaflets put up on the wall behind her. — Teacher Nikki says books can set a child up for life

Babies are to receive a free book every month until the age of five after a town adopted a scheme set up by country singer Dolly Parton.

The scheme – Dolly Parton's Imagination Library – has been taken up by a community group in Chard, Somerset, in the hopes of improving literacy rates and education outcomes.

Chard Community Hub has already been given £8,000 in donations towards the cost of the books in the first year.

Kim, a mother from Chard on maternity leave, said ''times are hard'' and the scheme "will help a lot and go a long way".

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Under the terms of the scheme, Chard Community Hub has to pay for the books, which it plans to do by fundraising and asking local businesses for sponsorships.

Parton's Dollywood Foundation then covers the scheme's central administration and coordinates large-scale publishing and distribution partnerships.

Megan Parfoot, from Chard Community Hub, said the town "does have pockets of deprivation".

"We know that reading is a super important thing for children at every stage of their life, just in terms of building vocabulary and building understanding," she said.

"The challenge is getting sponsorship for it... it's quite a big commitment of money to make sure we can commit to it for the next five years."

Two mums in a community centre, sitting on a sofa. Both are holding a baby, one of whom is looking closely at a book. The other child is holding a stuffed elephant toy. — Mothers in Chard have been signing up to the scheme

Parents at the hub's Bright Beginnings toddler group support the scheme, which is the only one so far in the county.

Nikki, a parent and teacher, said the idea was ''brilliant'', adding: "If you can give a child reading, you can set them up for life."

Kim said the books and toddler group take away "the stress of things you can't afford, especially on a maternity wage".

Leaflets advertising the book scheme show a a photo of Dolly Parton smiling and holding a book open. — Chard is the first Somerset town to sign up to the scheme

Parton set up the Imagination Library in 1995 in her home state of Tennessee, motivated by her father's inability to read.

The initiative was launched in the UK in 2007.

The books are selected by a committee based in the UK, and each year the selection changes.

Chard Community Hub has already been given £4,000 from a local construction company.

Coreus Trust chairman Neville Coles, who grew up in Chard, said: "We want to put things back into our town and we believe we are making Chard great again."