Lithgow Public School students, armed with catalogues, have been busy picking out titles they would like to add to their home library.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The school’s Books in Homes Australia program is back this year. The program, which sends three books of a child’s choice home with them to keep, aims to improve literacy and promote the enjoyment of reading.
“Books in Homes fosters a love of reading in children,” Lithgow Public School librarian Ingrid Terpaj said.
“It is an opportunity for all students to receive new books for their home library.
“It’s incredibly important. Students need to spend a fair amount of time reading, including during their holidays and on weekends.”
The program also supplies each child with a waterproof book bag and donates 144 books to the school’s library.
EnergyAustralia has sponsored this term’s program, at a cost of about $13,000, through one of its community grants.
The program previously operated for three terms a year between 2012-2015 with the support of the University of Western Sydney. In 2016, the school community’s fundraising efforts kept the Books in Homes operating for the school’s 400 students, but the cost was too much to maintain.
Program coordinator at Lithgow Public, Donna Guest, said the school would welcome any sponsor that would be interested in helping the program to continue into the future.
The school had seen, in response to participation in the program, an increased enthusiasm about books, reading and borrowing from the library.
This term’s books will be presented at a special assembly in June.
