Dolly Parton's Imagination Library expands to 10 London boroughs, backed by £5m lottery funding

The free book programme Dolly Parton founded nearly three decades ago is growing — and 157,000 more children in London will feel it, one book through the letterbox each month.

The Imagination Library, which posts a free, age-appropriate book every month to enrolled children from birth until their fifth birthday, is doubling its London footprint from three boroughs to ten. The £5 million contribution from People's Postcode Lottery players is financing the addition of Wandsworth, Camden, Hackney, Greenwich, Lewisham, Newham and Barking and Dagenham to the three boroughs — Lambeth, Southwark and the City of London — where the programme is already established.

The scheme is universal: eligibility is based on a child's address, not their family's income. Any child living in a covered borough is eligible to sign up, and those enrolled from birth stand to receive as many as 60 books before they reach their fifth birthday. Early childhood development and reading specialists choose the titles, which are published by Penguin Random House UK.

Dolly believed passionately that every child deserved the chance to fall in love with books, and she spent her life turning that belief into something real. This expansion means her extraordinary work does not simply continue, it grows.— Jeff Conyers, President, Dollywood Foundation

A celebration at the British Library will mark the expansion in the run-up to Give Like Dolly Day on 25 September. The Dollywood Foundation handles much of the programme's underlying infrastructure, with local partners — among them councils, charities, early-years organisations and businesses — taking responsibility for registering eligible children and contributing to delivery costs. Across all four nations of the UK, the wider scheme works alongside roughly 320 local partners, of which the London rollout forms one part.

The announcement comes as data point to a decline in reading habits among young children. According to figures cited by the programme's organisers, only 41 per cent of children aged four and under are now read to frequently, a sharp drop from 64 per cent in 2012. The programme has also drawn attention to reports from teachers about children arriving at reception struggling with books: its figures indicate that 28 per cent of pupils starting school cannot handle physical books correctly, with some treating the pages as touchscreens, swiping or tapping them as they would a digital device.

We read together every day, and that's been made possible because we get a book once a month. She loves reading for pleasure because we have so many books at home from the Imagination Library.— Harriet Sedrick-Ugo, South London resident and early years educator

Sedrick-Ugo, whose four-year-old daughter Sienna is enrolled, also pointed to the financial difference the programme makes. "Buying books can be quite expensive, so if they're going to be getting it for free, that would be something a lot of families can benefit from," she said, according to Times Now News.

Dolly understood the extraordinary power of something very simple: a child, a grown-up and a book. Our players can be incredibly proud that their support will help 157,000 children experience that for themselves.— Clara Govier, Managing Director, People's Postcode Lottery

The expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a wonderful tribute to her incredible commitment to help children learn to read. Sharing a story is a simple and enjoyable way to inspire, educate and connect with children, and I encourage families across the capital to sit down and read a book together in honour of Dolly.— Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 as a tribute to her father, a man who never learned to read or write. The programme began as a local initiative in Tennessee before growing into an international scheme operating in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. It reached the UK in 2008. The Dollywood Foundation reports that more than seven million books have reached children across the UK, with the programme's global total exceeding 300 million books distributed worldwide.

Parents and carers in eligible boroughs can register their child through the Imagination Library website. Because eligibility is tied to a family's address, households are advised to verify that their area falls within the covered zone.

Why it matters — With children's reading habits at a measurably lower level than a decade ago, a universal free-book scheme reaching 157,000 more London children offers a practical, no-means-test route to books for families who might otherwise struggle to afford them.

Reported by co.uk, standard.co.uk, london-now.co.uk, timesnownews.com