Dancing with our stars 2022, where the money goes

Anna Mathews has her children enrolled in the program, which is run by The Ballarat Foundation.

"I highly recommend it," Ms Mathews said.

Children enrolled receive one book a month until they turn five years of age.

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"We wait for the postie to deliver it and it is pretty special for them," Ms Mathews said.

The new books are often in their regular rotation for a number of weeks and she said her children were always excited to open the new package each month.

Earlier this year the Ballarat Foundation ran the annual fundraising event, Dancing with Our Stars.

2022 was the biggest year for the event, with 10 Ballarat personalities raising more than $200,000.

With the fundraising efforts, 37 children were added to the Imagination Library program.

Larna Gull was awarded Dancing With Our Stars champion after she raised more than $100,000.

She said she was very grateful the foundation allowed her to focus her fundraising specifically on the imagination library.

"Books really are the gift that keep on giving and with such a substantial amount raised, the ongoing impact of this program is huge," Ms Gull said.

"Sending some 6600-plus books into the community is truly remarkable and will help keep this program running for years to come."

Ms Mathews said she had enjoyed introducing her children to a variety of topics.

"The younger books all seem to be pattern-based or number-based or about animal basics," she said.

"As they get older, there are a lot more like fictional stories."

Ms Mathews said many Australian history books had come through the program which had helped her children be introduced to Aboriginal culture.

READ MORE: Ballarat Foundation closer to creating major volunteer hub

She said it had helped foster the love for reading and kept them interested in books.

"They know the books to start with and actually want to get them out."

Ms Mathews said once her children had read and loved the books, or they grew out of them, she donated them to her local op-shop.

She said it was good to keep the cycle going and other children being able to access the stories.

Ms Mathews said the children had been enjoying the books during the day.

She said she would recommend for parents to have a look if they could apply for the program.

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