Fife’s education chairman has welcomed Dolly Parton’s book initiative.
Scotland’s children have so far benefited from 40,092 books from the country star’s Imagination Library, with more to follow.
The corporate parenting board, chaired by Douglas Chapman, has agreed a deal with the Scottish Government and the Dolly Parton Foundation for all Fife’s looked-after children to receive free books every month to the age of five.
The government has worked with Scottish Book Trust and the Dollywood Foundation to bring the Imagination Library to Scotland.
Government funding will enable the library to provide 12 books every year for Scotland’s 3341 looked-after children.
Dolly said: “When I am on tour, we are in and out of a town so fast it doesn’t leave much time for anything else. However, this is very important to me and I am so proud of our partnership with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Book Trust.”
Mr Chapman said: “The early years are vitally important for a child’s development and this support can make a real difference to future attainment. It is particularly crucial to ensure looked-after children receive help and inspiration like this to be given the same life chances as anyone else.”
He added: “Research shows that children whose parents and carers who spend time reading and talking with them frequently have better language skills than those who do not.”
The library was developed in 1995 by Dolly for her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. She wanted to give every pre-school child their own library. The scheme was such a success that other communities asked to join and it has become an award-winning international programme.
Around 30 million books have been sent to children in over 1300 communities across the world. However, Scotland’s is the first scheme to run on a national basis, purely for looked-after children.
As of July last year there were 15,892 children looked after by local authorities.
The Scottish Book Trust is working with local authorities to provide Bookbug packs for babies and children up to the age of five. The Imagination Library will complement Bookbug by providing additional resources.
The government launched Play, Talk, Read to focus on children’s early years. It includes a website and provides free items to help learning and development.