Drumcog, which comprises Drumchapel Housing Co-Operative, Cernach, Pineview and Kingsridge Cleddans Housing Associations, has launched its own Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

This provides free books to children under 5 years old living within the G15 postcode area. 

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting programme in the world. The flagship programme of Dolly Parton’s charity, The Dollywood Foundation, has gifted over 270 million free books in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and local community partners.

The Imagination Library mails more than 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Each child enrolled in the programme receives one book per month from birth to age five - at no cost to families. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.

The launch event on Saturday, 26th July at Drumchapel Library saw many local families attend, where they enjoyed face painting, free books, colouring books and the opportunity to sign up to the initiative. The event was also attended by local MP Patricia Ferguson, who described the initiative as “a brilliant way to support families and inspire reading.” 

Kingsridge Cleddans director, Daniel Wilson, said: “We were delighted to see so many residents of the community in attendance and to help fuel the passion for reading in our young tenants. Literacy skills are a key area that we would like to help develop across the community, and learning to read young will help this next generation in developing these skills.”

Susan McDonald MBE, chairperson of Cernach Housing Association, added: “It’s a great opportunity for us to give back to the community and we’re delighted to support all the families in the area - no matter whether they live in socially rented homes, private lets or owner-occupied homes – it means all kids are treated equally.”