International affiliates
We are pleased to be able to welcome other book-gifting programmes from around the world the opportunity to become affiliated to Bookstart UK.
Bookstart Japan
Bookstart Japan gifted books to 280,000 babies in 2004. This was achieved via 653 local authorities. The majority of books are gifted at the 3-4 month health check, but some schemes gift at the 6-7 month or 9-10 month health check instead. The funding for the Bookstart schemes comes mainly from the Local Government and librarians and volunteers who visit the health centres distribute the books. Bookstart is spreading rapidly across Japan and they are now aiming for 100% coverage. In the meantime they are talking to parents face to face about reading with their children to make sure parents and carers get the best from Bookstart.
website: http://www.bookstart.net/
download: Introduction to Bookstart Japan (pdf 1.9Mb)
Bookstart Thailand
In 2004/2005 Bookstart Thailand reached 1,200 babies aged 4-9 months. The success of the Bookstart Scheme has been recognised by the Thai Government and as a result they plan to deliver ‘Gift Bags’ to every newborn starting from July 28th 2005 (The Crown Prince’s Birthday). Thailand has approximately 800,000 newborn babies each year, so this will be a magnificent achievement. The gift bag will contain a handbook for parents, a baby book, a plastic book, a lullaby CD, a toy mobile and an intelligent towel. The programme will be managed by the newly established National Institution for Brain-Based Learning.
website: http://www.thaibby.in.th/bookstart.html
Bookstart-Korea
Bookstart-Korea has been gifting book packs to babies since April 2003 in 42 localities across the country. The programme currently reaches around 40,000 babies per year via deliveries in public health centres and public libraries. An additional book pack aimed at disadvantaged 3-4-year-olds in selected areas is to be launched in 2007. The programme receives funding from local governments and public libraries as well as donations from corporate supporters. The Book Culture Foundation, a national reading charity aimed at promoting reading, administers the programme. Research by Seoul National University evaluated the effect of the programme on child development in 2003 and produced very positive findings. Bookstart-Korea aims to reach every baby born in the country by the year 2013.
website: http://www.bookreader.or.kr
A dedicated site for Bookstart-Korea was launched in July 2007:
http://www.bookstart.org
Boekbaby’s
Stichting Lezen Flanders, Belgium
Boekbaby’s (Bookbabies) has recently started in its pilot phase. Inspired by the UK's Bookstart, the objective is to bring every child and parent into contact with books. Right after birth, but also at later moments in the child’s development, young parents will get picture books, information on reading aloud and the library service for free.
Update - April 2008
Boekbaby’s (Bookbabies) has announced that it has secured funding to extend the programme throughout Flanders, beginning in August 2008. Funded by the Department of Culture, Boekbaby's will be expanded to gift two book packs. The first pack will be gifted to babies up to six months via local health centres. The second pack will be gifted to toddlers between 12 and 15 months old via local libraries. The programme aims to reach close to 65,000 children for each of the two packs. The national programme builds on a successful pilot project in ten local communities in Flanders. A research team from the University of Ghent monitored how families interacted with the book gifts and results were presented at a conference in Brussels in February 2007.
We wish Boekbaby every success with their new expanded programme.
More on Stichting Lezen
http://www.stichtinglezen.be/engels.html
Preparing for Life - Dublin
This programme is due to be launched in April 2007 and will be gifting book packs to babies in the Northside of Dublin city. Run by a local development company, the Northside Partnership, the programme aims to gift a series of book packs to every child in the locality during their pre-school years. Targetting specifically the Northside of the city, the programme is designed to promote children's development in an economically deprived area. The programme is co-funded by national government and philanthropic organisations.
‘Lesestart’ Germany
Stiftung Lesen recently announced that they will be launching a new national Bookstart programme in June 2008. Working in association with the many local book gifting projects around Germany, Lesestart will be distributing packs to 500,000 babies via their paediatrician. The packs will consist of a children’s illustrated book, a parental guide on reading (translated into Turkish and Russian) and a brochure on recommended children’s books by the well-know family magazine “Eltem”.
The programme has been inspired by the three-year pilot project “Lesestart – mit Büchern wachsen” launched in 2006 in the Free State of Saxony. Evaluation conducted by the University of Leipzig and Department of Media and Education highlighted the success of the pilot and was a major influence leading to funding for the new national programme.
website: www.lesestart-deutschland.de
Il-Ktieb Tezor - Malta
(‘A Book is a Treasure’)
Ill-Ktieb is a pilot project which will be launched on World Book Day in Malta on 23 April 2007. The project will be gifting book packs to children aged 2–3 years when their parents register them for school. Funding has been secured from UK publishers, the Merlin Library and local councils in Malta. It is hoped that the programme will reach approximately 4,500 children each year.
Books for Babies
‘Books for Babies’ is a programme based in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2004/2005 the programme reached approximately 5,000 new born babies. Christchurch City Libraries fund the programme. Library staff and Friends of the Library Volunteers administer the packs, with the help of hospital staff and home birth midwives. They have received some wonderful praise from the parents of babies who have received their books.
http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Learning/BooksForBabies/
Bookstart (Capel, Australia)
This scheme gifts books to babies in the Greater Bunbury region in Western Australia. Currently, books are gifted to babies between the ages of 7 and 9 months old at information sessions hosted by public libraries with a librarian, child health nurse and a speech pathologist. In the future they are going to gift the books by the Child Health Nurse at the 6-month baby check. Plans for Bookstart are going to be changing in the coming year. From 2005 the state of Western Australia is rolling out the ‘Better Beginnings’ programme. This programme is based very closely on Bookstart. By joining this programme, schemes in the greater Bunbury region will no longer have to worry about finding funding, as each local shire council will commit monies annually in return will receive books, bags and a kit to be used in their libraries. This support will be invaluable.
Better Beginnings Family Literature Programme (Australia)
Better beginnings builds on the knowledge that early intervention, parent involvement and support communities play a critical role in the growth and development of young children. Their literacy toolkit contains a quality children’s book, a growth chart featuring favourite nursery rhymes, a list of best books and some supporting reading to encourage reading at home. This toolkit is gifted to every baby born in the six communities participating in stage one of the programme in Perth through the community health centres at the baby’s six week health check. The parents are also invited to a free rhyme time and story time session at the public library. There is a state-wide expansion of Better Beginnings planned over the next four years which will encourage lifelong literacy links that will connect with families and change young lives.
Great Lakes (Australia) Bookstart
This programme has been gifting book packs to babies throughout the Great Lakes region of New South Wales since August 2006.
Great Lakes Bookstart was initially funded by Friends of the Great Lakes Library Service (FOGLLS) but is now solely funded by the Forster Bowling Club. The packs are distributed by the health visitors during their ‘in-home’ consultation with parents shortly after birth their child.
website: www.greatlakes.nsw.gov.au/Library/index.htm
Reading for Development Initiative (Nigeria)
Reading for Development has been gifting books and providing support for libraries in schools and colleges since August 2005.
The programme visits libraries in schools across Nigeria to distribute books and also organises an annual book fair for youths and children where every participating youngster has the opportunity of going away with at least a book.
It is estimated that the programme reaches around 500 children each year, mostly in economically deprived areas. The Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation is the parent organisation for the programme. Financial support for the activities of the Foundation is provided by a number of corporate bodies and financial institutions.
website: http://www.readingfordevelopment.org/
Girls Empowered (Uganda)
Girls Empowered has been gifting books to young girls in Uganda since 2003. The programme works from community centres in Kampala, Wakiso, Mityana, Jinja, Bugiri and Mpigi and gifts books to disadvantaged girls, particularly orphans and those that head households. It is estimated that the programme reaches around 150 girls each year. Financial support for Girls Empowered is provided by local associations and churches.
Books for Babies (Newfoundland, Canada)
Since January 1994 Books for Babies has been gifting book packs to babies and toddlers throughout the province of Newfoundland. Book packs are delivered to children at birth and at yearly intervals up to four years old. Supported by the Department of Education (Newfoundland), the programme distributes the packs via hospitals or health visitors for the baby pack and via Family Resource Centres or libraries for the follow-up packs.
In 2006 the programme reached 1,500 newborns which represents a third of all babies born in the province. The follow-up packs were received by approximately 1,000 children at each of the ages. The programme is expected to expand in 2007 to reach around 4,000 babies, which represents 93% of new births.
website: http://www.nald.ca/booksforbabies
123 Read with Me, 123 Lis Avec Moi (Ottawa, Canada)
This is a programme run in Ottawa. In 2004/2005 it gifted books to 8,000 newborn babies through the well baby visits from the public nurses. An external contractor currently staffs the programme, but they will now be hiring a permanent member from the library staff as coordinator of the programme.
Leer en Familia - Colombia
(Family Reading)
Leer en Familia has been gifting book packs to babies since April 2003. Run by the reading charity Fundalectura, the programme sells packs to health organisations and libraries, which in turn delivers them free to families.
Most packs are received just after birth or at the age of eight months. Leer en Familia currently reaches around 35,000 children each year, most of which are from low income families.
Fundalectura hopes to extend the reach of Leer en Familia to include public libraries and aims to increase the number of children reached by 5,000 each year.
See more information...
Bookstart in the Falkland Islands
Bookstart in the Falkland Islands is a small scheme, which gifts Bookstart packs to babies at their 8-month check up, and Bookstart+ packs at their two-year check up. They have gifted 60 packs since October 2004. A local company who pays for the Bookstart packs sponsors the scheme and the Falkland Island Government pays for the boxes to be shipped to the Falklands. They are hoping to extend books within the community. In the meantime, they are raising the profile of reading to children by operating a book redistribution service to ensure children have access to books in all waiting rooms, with their child minder and in nurseries.
These are only a selection of schemes that are operating abroad. We are also in contact with an International Kindergarten in Budapest who will be running Bookstart Bookcrawl in their new library from September.
Ron Bailey, National Programs Director for Reach Out and Read USA visited Bookstart UK in August 2005 to discuss the progress of the scheme. The scheme is still a great success in the USA and they are working hard to extend the reach of the scheme. He was delighted to see the new Bookstart+ and Bookstart Treasure Chests, and brought along useful catalogues containing lists of the books given out to babies in the schemes catchment areas.
