When the Ballarat Imagination Library started providing Ballarat’s children with free books to foster a love of reading Rieley Glasson was just a baby.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now three years old and a lover of books, Rieley has the honour of receiving the 100,000th book donated across Australia through the program aimed at encouraging reading.
Rieley said he was enjoying the book, about a seahorse that can camouflage itself, and his mother Renee Glasson said it was always an exciting time receiving a new book each month.
“It means that we’re always reading something new,” she said.
“And that keeps it exciting for Rieley.”
The Imagination library idea was started by Dolly Parton in 1996 and was brought to Australia by United Way.
The idea is to improve early literacy in the community by sending free books to children under five to improve literacy skills.
United Way Chair Alex Campbell said it was essential that children have access to books at a young age.
“Over 20 per cent of kids get to school not having seen a book or being able to identify with reading,” he said.
“If kids get an interesting book and gets familiar with letters and sounds it sets them up not just for school but for life."
The 2012 Australian Early Development Census showed that 7.9 per cent of children entering school in Ballarat were “developmentally vulnerable” when it came to literacy compared, to 6.1 per cent of Victorian children.
Mr Campbell said if a child fell behind at that early age it was hard to catch up again.
“All the research shows that 0-5 are the key learning years, once you reach high school they don’t teach you to read,” he said.
There are around 450 children receiving monthly books through the program in Ballarat, and around 260 children on a waiting list to enter the program.
The money used to pay for the books is raised by the community, predominately through donations from individuals and Mr Campbell said more donors were needed.
It costs $84 per year per child to provide a book once a month, and United Way are asking people to consider donating $7 a month to put quality books in the hands of children in the community.
To donate or enroll head here: http://unitedwayballarat.org.au/ballarat-imagination-library
