Bookstart Babies

Almost 8,000 Tameside children have benefited from free books in the last year, giving them a head start when it comes to reading.

Tameside Bookstart reached every child from birth to pre-school with the relevant free packs. The Bookstart team give the packs to families to ensure that the children enjoy the benefits of having stories, songs and rhymes shared with them on a regular basis.

The team has continued to look for new ways to develop the scheme such as the Bookstart Bookcrawl and high quality Rhyme Times throughout the borough. The Bookstart team has an active outreach programme and they offer ongoing presentations, training and support to ensure they reach every eligible child.

Executive member for Services for Children and Young People, Cllr Allison Gwynne said:” Bookstart encourages all parents and carers to enjoy reading with their children. The three packs that the children receive before they start school show the rich diversity of children’s literature that is available. We hope that this encourages parents and children to carry on reading with their children and become members of our libraries."