Writer and illustrator Niamh Sharkey has been dreaming of establishing a national book-gifting initiative in Ireland for years. She served as Laureate na nOg between 2012-2014, and her final act as laureate was the establishment of a children’s story festival, Towers and Tales, in the fairytale setting of Lismore Castle.
The festival, which was launched last year, allowed her to start a book-gifting scheme on a small scale: every child attending received a free book. From these beginnings, Sharkey has been working with Children’s Books Ireland on developing a larger national project, Storyseed, which will see every child in Ireland receive a book-pack during their first year of life, encouraging literacy in the earliest, most crucial years of childhood development. Towers and Tales, which takes place in Lismore on Saturday, April 23rd, has provided an opportunity to develop that vision, promote the concept and actively fundraising for it.
The idea of book-gifting has international precedent, and has proven to produce long-lasting educational, social, emotional, and cultural benefits for participants. It encourages parents to read to and with their children, and affords children the opportunity to have books in their home, regardless of socio-economic background. Book-gifting schemes are already in operation in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Wexford, where public-health nurses and library branches play a crucial role in making contact with families. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, the libraries have redoubled this encouragement with their popular monthly Baby Book Clubs. The book-gifting scheme run by the Northside Partnership through their Preparing for Life programme has played a key role in literacy awareness in the families that they work with.
Storyseed, when it takes root in the next few years, will see each baby in the country receive a free pack in the first year of life, including a picturebook, parental guidance materials, an invitation to join their local library and a letter from a Champion of Reading. As the scheme develops, Storyseed hopes to develop extra supports for families with more complex or challenging needs.
In the meantime, Towers and Tales is providing young readers of all ages with an opportunity to meet literary heroes and write their own stories, and, through the free gift of a book for all visitors to the festival, the encouragement to read, read, read.
Towers and Tales takes place at Lismore Castle on April 23rd. This year’s participants include Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, writer/illustrator Alex T. Smith, and Irish writers Sarah Webb, Patricia Forde, and Chris Judge among others. www.towersandtales.ie
