HUNDREDS of children across Keighley are set to receive a free book every month.

The move is part of singer Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library initiative.

Children aged from birth to their fifth birthday – who live in Keighley Central, East or West wards – will benefit.

The project has been spearheaded locally by former Keighley West councillor Adrian Farley, Keighley East councillor Caroline Firth and Parkwood Primary School executive headteacher Dick Ballantine.

They have worked alongside partners including schools, midwives, children’s centres, Keighley College, Strong Close Nursery School and Keighley Association for Women and Children’s Centre.

Under the scheme, all books are tailored to the age of the recipients.

Strong Close Nursery School paid for 14 children to trial the project and found the books were so well received, it now plans to register more pupils.

Headteacher Helen Jones said: “We’ve discovered, as we expected, that it really promotes literacy to our school community for a relatively low cost per child. Our governors can see the benefit and are really behind it.”

The roll-out across the wider Keighley area will cost £25 a year for each child and fundraising will be needed to ensure the programme’s future longer term.

But Mr Farley said: “We have enough funding for the first year or so, during which time we look forward to be able to offer family reading sessions through partners involved in the scheme. Now we want to encourage people to sign-up.

“Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than family circumstances, parents’ educational backgrounds or income. Even just looking at pictures and sharing a book together for ten minutes a day increases bonding between families and the literacy levels of children.”

The not-for-profit Dolly Parton Imagination Library was established in 1995 and is now international.

Cllr Firth said: “This is a wonderful scheme that has given so much to communities around the globe and we’re elated to have brought it to Keighley.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this stage and we couldn’t have pulled it off without generous funding from the Bradford Opportunity Area, Keighley Big Local, Imagination Library, Bradford Council and some individual schools.”

Kathryn Loftus, programme director for Bradford Opportunity Area, said: “This fantastic project will give children books at no cost to them. It aims to significantly increase school readiness and inspire parents and carers to read more with their children.”

For further information and to sign-up your children, visit imaginationlibrary.com/uk/affiliate/WYKKEIGHLEY.