The impact of shared book reading on children and families: a study of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Tamworth, Australia

This longitudinal cohort-study investigated the impact of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (the Imagination Library) in Tamworth, Australia. The Imagination Library delivers age-appropriate books to children from the time of their birth until their fifth birthday. Caregivers of Tamworth children completed surveys about their experience with the program after receiving one book (“baseline;” N = 343) and then at six months (N = 116) and three years (N = 89). Their responses indicated that children in the Imagination Library were read to more frequently, for longer durations, and had more books in their homes than the average Australian child, as represented by large independent databases. Tamworth caregivers who read to their child at least once a day at baseline were nearly five times more likely to read daily after six months and three years than those who did not read daily at baseline (OR 4.9 (95% CI 1.8,13.7)). Further, children who were read to daily at three years showed more emerging literacy skills than those who were not read to daily. These outcomes suggest that shared book reading generally, and the Imagination Library specifically, encourages sustained reading practices that are associated with developing emerging literacy skills.