Thousands of Tallaght kids sign up to Dolly Parton library

A FREE book-gifting scheme has been taken up by over 5,000 children in Tallaght.

Some 75 per cent of all children up to five years of age in Dublin 24 have signed up to the local free book scheme, supported by Dolly Parton, since it was launched one year ago.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) project is being coordinated by the Tallaght based Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) to encourage local children’s reading.

Programme Coordinator, Emma Reilly, gave details of the programme’s success as it celebrated its first birthday in Ireland last Friday.

“An estimated 5,331 children in Dublin 24 have received, or are currently receiving books,” she sadi.

“Together with the support of An Post and Tusla, 33,108 books have been delivered during the past year. We are so grateful to the local postmen and postwomen who have helped to get all of these books into the hands of more children.”

 Parents living in Dublin 24 can sign their children up at www.cdi.ie/imaginationlibrary where they can receive a free high-quality book to keep every month until they are five. The books are addressed to the child and posted directly to their home. 

 Ms Reilly also highlighted the need for corporate and public support to sustain the programme into the future. 

 “CDI is the affiliate for the Imagination Library here in Ireland,” she explained.

“DPIL provides the book ordering system, the branding and the ability to buy books at cost price. CDI, supported by Tusla, buys the books at cost and coordinates programme delivery. 

 “We will be commencing a major fundraising campaign in the coming weeks and months, looking for corporate and individual sponsorship.

“Just €5 is the cost of two books per month. CDI is grateful to Shamrock Rovers Football Club which is actively promoting it in the Tallaght and surrounding community and also to The Rotary Club. 

 “Given this success we are also supporting the expansion of the programme to other parts of the country and exciting announcements are expected soon,” she said.

 CDI is a non-profit organisation working to improve outcomes for children in disadvantaged communities in Ireland.

Established in 2004 in Tallaght, Dublin 24, CDI designs, delivers and evaluates prevention and early intervention programmes for children in literacy, health, speech and language, parenting, and conflict prevention. 

 The benefits of reading includes the fact that  the more words a child hears in their early childhood, the more words they will have later in childhood.

Sending books into homes creates more opportunities for having conversations about stories and learning more new words.

And having books in the home is a strong predicator of better outcomes, regardless of whether children have been read to or not.

Spending time reading to your child helps create positive attachment between caregivers and the child.

The human voice in reading and speaking with the child has been found to be critical in children’s language development.

Technology does not have the same impact.