Boekstart (from 2005-2016 the name of our programme was Boekbaby's).
Flanders and Brussels.
December 4th 2019
Iedereen Leest
Frankrijklei 130/4, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Iedereen Leest (Everybody Reads) is a non-profit organisation that wants to inspire people to read (more). Iedereen Leest is mainly concerned with making reading accessible for everybody. Being able to read is of absolute importance for personal development and participation in society. Iedereen Leest highlights the crucial role of reading for pleasure in the literacy discourse: it is the key to an inspiring reading climate and a broad reading culture. ‘More reading for pleasure, more readers’: that is our aim.
Els Michielsen
Programme manager Boekstart
https://www.boekstart.be/
Non profit
16, 2.5 FEQ for Boekstart
Boekstart (from 2005-2016 the name of our programme was Boekbaby's).
Flanders and Brussels.
2005
Iedereen Leest coordinates ‘Boekstart’ (Bookstart) for babies and toddlers (0 -2,5 years) and their parents. Boekstart brings books into the lives of young readers at key ages before school. It informs parents about the importance of books in their children’s development.
Part of the programme is sourced by the Flemish government. They also source the first book pack. The second book pack is sourced by the local authority.
221 out of 319 municipalities in Flanders and Brussels participate. (And it is still growing).
Not for profit.
None.
Overall, the programme model is very consistent. We do have a few local exceptions in the way the book packs are delivered to the parents.
Parents receive a first book pack when their baby is 6 months old. They receive the pack in their local healthcare centre where the follow-up of the baby (weight, height, vaccinations) is done. This pack contains a cloth book, a brochure with information about Boekstart and the importance of an early start, and a growth chart. When the baby is 15 months old, parents receive a coupon that invites them to the library to receive their second book pack: the toddler bag. That bag contains two board books and a brochure about the importance of reading aloud and the library.
Free of charge.
Library, Healthcare centers for babies & toddlers.
Healthcare workers, librarians, volunteers (from the healthcare center, who measure and weight the babies).
The volunteers in the healthcare centers are the ones who distribute the book packs for babies. They don’t work for Boekstart, but are volunteering in the healthcare centers to measure and weigh the babies. When babies come for their 6 months control, they give them the first book pack and tell them about the importance of starting early with books and reading aloud. When the child is 15 months old, the volunteers give the parents an invitation to pick up their second pack in the local library. The volunteers can participate in training sessions to improve their communication skills and to learn more about early literacy.
The programme is universal in every local community that is engaged in the Boekstart programme. In Flanders we reach all the parents that visit a public health center. (+/- 85%)
We serve +/- 40,000 babies a year with the first pack and +/- 25,000 toddlers with the second pack.
6 – 12 months, 12 – 24 months (see above, 6 months and 15 months).
Not yet.
The whole programme is in Dutch. We do provide a resume of the most important information in different languages spoken in Flanders and Brussels, so everyone can understand the message of Boekstart.
In the programme’s pilot phase from 2005 to 2007, the universities of Ghent and Antwerp (Vanobbergen & Daems, 2008) conducted research focused mainly on the parents’ perception/experiences and on mapping the diversity of shared book-reading cultures. One of the main conclusions was that Boekbaby’s makes parents quickly realise that a stimulating reading culture starts in the cradle. A survey among library staff and volunteers with Kind en Gezin (Child and Family) also highlighted a shared enthusiasm about the programme. In 2014 new research (Helena Van Nuffel, Lies Houben, Koen Van Gorp & Kris Van Den Branden, Centrum voor Taal en Onderwijs, University of Leuven, maart 2014) aimed to investigate whether or not the mainly positive findings from the pilot project remained valid. The researchers specifically wished to take a more differentiated look at the programme’s reach and impact on families from diverging backgrounds. Do Boekbaby’s material and its message reach all parents? Or is the programme mainly successful among the white middle class, which tends to be more inclined to read anyway? They also wished to map the way in which parents and children approach books, shared book reading and story-telling. Alongside parents they also wanted to question library staff and Kind en Gezin volunteers. How do they perceive Boekbaby’s reach and impact? Do they have any suggestions for increasing the project’s reach and impact? In 2018 Iedereen Leest visited all the Boekstart-libraries to evaluate their local program and to provide personal advice on how to improve the program and the number of parents reached. Every year all participating municipalities send in the number of toddler packs picked up in their library.
