Latrobe Health Assembly is proudly delivering Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in the Latrobe Valley. This means that all children born from the 1st of January 2023 until the 31st of July 2024 can receive a free book every month until they turn three years of age.
Latrobe Health Assembly have partnered with United Way Australia, who provide Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library across Australia. We have also partnered with the Latrobe City Council Maternal and Child Health team who will assist in promoting this program to families in Latrobe Valley.
Latrobe Health Assembly is delivering this program to help improve early childhood literacy. By reading to children in the home, it allows them to enjoy reading and develop their literacy skills, well before they enter formal education. Research has shown that reading to a child consistently can lead to them being up to six months ahead of their peers academically, when compared to those that have not the same exposure to reading.
The idea to rollout the program in the Latrobe Valley was provided in a series of community workshops that took place in 2022. These workshops were focussed on identifying areas of early childhood wellbeing that needed more attention in the Latrobe Valley. From these workshops, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was highly recommended by parents, carers and service providers.
Latrobe Health Assembly Chair, Ms Tanya Rong said that “while the research highlights the benefits of reading to children from a young age, the rewarding part of rolling out this program is that the need for this program has been identified by the community. Reading is a lifelong skill, and fostering a love of reading from a young age will set children up for success in their future”.
If you are a parent or carer of a child that was born from the 1st of January 2023 to the 31st of July 2024, and live in the Latrobe Valley, your child is eligible to enrol in the Latrobe Valley Imagination Library. This means your child can receive a free book each month until they reach three years of age for no cost to you at all.
To enrol your child or a child you care for in the Latrobe Valley Imagination Library follow this link and complete the enrolment form:
