Children mark national book day

Some of the big numbers involved with children's books this week Enlarge Image

Thousands of pre-school children across Scotland are due to take part in events marking National Bookstart Day.

Bookstart - which started in Birmingham in 1992 involving 300 youngsters - now reaches two million UK children.

Parties, mainly being held in libraries, and two flagship Scottish events will have a pirates theme.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Library and Information Council said visits to libraries could be rising as a result of the credit crunch.

Friday's events mark the UK National Bookstart Day. Scotland also has its own dedicated day in May.

Flagship celebrations will be held on board the Tall Ship in Glasgow and the Discovery in Dundee.

More than 300 children and adults in pirate fancy dress are expected at each occasion.

A further 8,000 are to take part in other events across Scotland, including pirate parties at Ardersier, Nairn, Aviemore, Grantown, Glen Urquhart and Inverness.

Bookstart promotes the giving of books to children at a very young age and among the best-known weekly events are Rhymetimes.

We have to be very cautious about this as it is only anecdotal at the moment, but library issues are thought to be increasing Elaine Fulton Scottish Library and Information Council

These are usually half an hour of singing rhymes and story-reading, held in public libraries.

Rosemary Clarke, head of Bookstart, said its work had grown from reaching 300 children to two million.

She said the aim was to make youngsters familiar with books and make reading a pleasure rather than a chore and its ideas were being followed up by about 30 other countries, including New Zealand and Holland.

The national day comes at the end of a busy week in Scotland in terms of reading and writing.

On Thursday, more than 200 children from primary schools across Moray were judging the picture book category of the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books in Elgin.

The awards are run by the Scottish Book Trust.

And Wednesday saw the launch of a National Trust for Scotland short story competition which includes children's categories and asks entrants to use the Battle of Culloden as an inspiration for their fiction.

Meanwhile, visits to libraries could be rising as a result of the credit crunch with people making use of free services.

BOOKS FACT FILE The Scottish Book Trust is the leading agency for the promotion of literature in Scotland Bookstart started as a pilot in Birmingham The Scottish Library and Information Council is the independent advisory body to the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers on library matters

Elaine Fulton, of the Scottish Library and Information Council, stressed the evidence was anecdotal but could be the subject of future research.

She said the council had heard usage was on the rise across the UK.

"We have to be very cautious about this as it is only anecdotal at the moment, but library issues are thought to be increasing," she said.

"People may be not throwing the supermarket paperbacks in the trolley as much as they were."

She said further research would need to be done to be sure of the credit crunch's effects.

A Scottish Government study published in September found that libraries were the most frequently attended cultural venue in the country.

The Scottish Household Survey reported almost one third of adults surveyed reported visits to libraries in the last 12 months.

Also, reading continued to be the most popular cultural activity in Scotland, attracting 64% of the adult population.

In December, the Scottish Library and Information Council is to present MSPs with findings of an evaluation of hundreds of local authority libraries.

Ms Fulton said: "Library use is usually measured on the numbers of books issued, numbers stocked and visitors.

"This is of course important, but libraries offer so much more such as access to the internet, local history and help for those interested in genealogy."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version