A scheme set up by the late country singer Dolly Parton, which posts a free book to children every month until their fifth birthday, has relaunched in parts of Wales.
Parton, who died aged 80 in August, was inspired by her father who could not read or write.
She set up the Imagination Library in 1995 and it has been rolled out in countries across the world.
But the charity has previously struggled in Wales, and there are calls for the programme to be “properly funded” for children across the country.
The Welsh government said it was “committed” to offering library spaces in primary schools and it funded a variety of schemes “to encourage reading for pleasure”.
There are three school communities in Swansea that will be part of the new programme – Clwyd, Brynmill and Llanrhidian primary schools – as well as Pencoed Primary School in Bridgend and a community in Risca near Newport.
The scheme is aimed at trying to help parents and their children access books, especially during a cost-of-living crisis.
Becky, 38, from Swansea, said her nine-month-old baby, Phoebe, would benefit from the programme.
“We love it, we think it’s amazing. I’ve got another little girl as well, Faith, and since she was a baby, we’ve read to her, and she is thriving now,” she said.
“She loves reading to us. We buy her books constantly, so having a new one every month, she’ll be waiting for it in the post.”
Mum-of-three, Diana Cune, 34, said she encouraged all her children to read.
“I always tell my girls that knowledge is power and books are the key to unlock that,” she said.
“We’re extremely lucky and I think this is a marvellous project for our community. The kids are very fortunate to have this project rolled out here.”
With funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the scheme was launched at Clwyd Primary School on Wednesday.
There were performances by school pupils, as well as a Welsh language rendition of Dolly Parton’s hit, Jolene, by singer-songwriter Bronwen Lewis.
The bilingual song, featuring Parton herself, along with her niece Jada Star, was released in October.
It followed the revelation that Parton has Welsh links in Machynlleth, Powys.
“It feels like a series of events have led to this,” said Lewis.
“From me singing in Welsh with Dolly Parton, her understanding her Welsh ancestry before she passed, and now a relaunch. It’s unbelievable.”
Lucy, Drew and Maisie are all wearing cowboy hats and smiling. Lucy has black glasses, long brown hair, and is wearing a white t-shirt. Drew has short brown hair, and he is wearing a white t-shirt with a denim overshirt. Maisie is wearing a white t-shirt and her blonde hair is tied back.
Across the UK, Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted nearly eight million free books to children since launching in 2007.
In Wales, all children under five living in the participating school catchment areas will be eligible to register.
Bronwen Lewis is wearing a black T-shirt and a red, orange and black flower-patterned blazer. She has two necklaces. She has short, red-coloured hair. She is standing next to a large neon sign which spells ‘cariad’, meaning ‘love’ in Welsh.
Bronwen Lewis said she was delighted to be part of the scheme’s relaunch
But the relaunch has sparked discussions around reading more generally.
Welsh Children’s Laureate Nicola Davies has called for more funding and emphasis on reading in schools to improve educational outcomes, after the latest Pisa test results suggested Wales’ performance had fallen further behind other UK nations.
“I would like to really see this programme being properly funded so that it could be in every part in Wales,” she said.
“I don’t think there is enough emphasis on reading, the National Curriculum for Wales hardly mentions reading for pleasure, and reading for pleasure has been proved by so much research to be absolutely central to supporting children’s educational performance across all subjects.
“As we all know, the education results for Wales are not great. That means that we’re not doing a good enough job for our young people, we’re not supporting our young people.
“I think the fundamental problem in government is that education is seen as a cost, not an investment.”
This initiative is being delivered through a partnership between The Dollywood Foundation UK and Community Focused Schools.
Helena Barrett-Duncan, regional director of the foundation, said she would also like to see the scheme rolled out to other communities.
“We want every child in the UK of course, but we would really love to bring this programme across Wales,” she said.
“This is the beginning… the dream would be where every child in Wales would get this monthly gift of books.
“Dolly dreams big – she always did – and this whole programme is about making dreams come true.”
She also said the charity was exploring how to bring Welsh language provision to the programme, with one bilingual book already included.
The Welsh government said reading was “a central part of our curriculum” and schools played “an important role in how learners develop a lifelong love of reading”.
“We remain committed to a library space in every primary school to encourage reading for pleasure,” it said.
“Through our curriculum grants, we have provided funding for literacy projects, including Love Reading Cymru and the Summer Reading Challenge to encourage reading for pleasure. Our Ymgolli campaign also aims to inspire our young people to see the value of reading in all its forms.”
Credit: BBC
