Children in Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey ward are set to benefit from the Imagination Library scheme as the campaign reaches its official halfway point.
The book-gifting scheme now covers 10 of the city’s 20 wards. This marks a significant milestone for the roll-out of the campaign which aims to ensure every child born in Nottingham receives books from birth.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a charity that delivers a free age-appropriate book every month to children from birth until the age of five. The scheme is proven to improve children’s literacy levels so that they are more likely to be ready to start school when they turn five.
The vision of the Imagination Library was first sparked in Nottingham in 2009 by a Teaching Assistant in Wollaton. Momentum gathered when the Rotary Club of Nottingham worked with Nottingham City Council to help to co-ordinate fundraising which enabled the Imagination Library to be set up in the Nottingham neighbourhood of Bilborough in 2012.
Since that time more than 4,600 children in Nottingham have registered with the scheme, and 150,000 books have been gifted.
The addition of Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey will mean that all babies born in that ward after 1 September 2018 will be eligible to join the scheme and receive the free books every month.
Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years, said: “I am delighted that the Imagination Library scheme is launching in Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey, it’s such a significant milestone. We have covered half the city now.
“But our fundraising efforts must continue. The aim of the campaign is to raise enough money to ensure that every child born in Nottingham can benefit from these free books each month. We need to keep fundraising!
“In Nottingham City too many of our children start school well behind the expected literacy levels. The facts show that reading with children is the best way to set them up for a bright future. These free monthly books are proven to make a difference.”
To find out more about the Imagination Library in Nottingham or to make a donation, please visit www.dollybooksnottingham.org.
The Nottingham scheme is supported by local organisations: The Rotary Club of Nottingham, Castle Cavendish, Small Steps Big Changes (National Lottery funding), as well as individual supporters.