Global Network For Early Years > Bookseed, Children’s Books Ireland > Bookseed, Children’s Books Ireland

Bookseed, Children’s Books Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Programme name

Bookseed.

Country

Limerick City and County.

Date of information

December 26th 2023

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Organization name

Children’s Books Ireland.

Organization address

First Floor, 17 North Great Georges St, Dublin 1, Ireland.

Goal/objective

We strive to make books central to every child’s life on the island of Ireland by increasing children’s access to books through our bookgifting programme, developing audiences for children’s books, and supporting and celebrating excellent authors and illustrators.

Organization contact

Daiden O’Regan.

Position of contact person

Projects and Communications Manager.

Organization website

https://childrensbooksireland.ie/

Organization type

National reading for pleasure promotion organisation – we are an arts organisation and a registered charity.

How many staff does your organization employ?

7 people.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Basic details

Programme name

Bookseed.

Country/Province/City where the programme takes place

Limerick City and County.

Year started

2020

Programme goal/objective

Book gifting to babies in first year of life, with evaluation of programme by Mary Immaculate University built in to allow us to advocate to government for a national roll out of early years bookgifting.

Funding sources

J.P McManus Benevolent Fund and Social Innovation Fund Ireland (SIFI).

Geographic coverage

a) Municipalities – 6 health centres in Limerick City and County b) Second wave of 8 health centres in Limerick County.

Purpose of the programme

Not for profit?

Not for profit.

Religious or political purpose?

None.

Local consistency of model

Is your programme model consistent across your geographic area, or are there regional differences?

Consistent.

Book Packs

What are the contents of your gifting pack?

1st pack – Owl Bat Bat Owl board book by Mary Louise Fitzpatrick, Bookseed reading guide, Limerick Libraries flyer, Canvas totebag. 2nd pack – Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton, Flyer with invitation to storytime at local library. 3rd pack (collected at local library) – Goodnight Like This by Mary Murphy.

Is your programme offered free of charge to all families?

Yes.

Partnerships and Delivery

What are your primary `points of contact` with the population you serve? (i.e your local programme partners.)

Library, Health clinic.

Who gifts/hands-out your pack to families?

Healthcare workers, librarians

Does your programme uses volunteers?

N/A

Audience

Is the programme universal or targeted?

Universal. Every baby that presents at the selected health centres within our chosen geographical area will be gifted books, but we don’t have universal coverage of Limerick City and County.

How many children does your programme serve a year?

1,050 per year, with the potential to increase to 2,100 per year over two years.

At what age/gifting period do children receive your programme?

Birth – 6 months, 6 – 12 months.

Diversity provision

Does your program include provisions or resources for children with special needs?

No.

What language populations does your programme serve?

The first book to be gifted is a picture book with no words. This was chosen specially to make a provision for parents where literacy levels may be low, or where English is not spoken.

Evaluation and research

Have you conducted programme evaluation or research (including longitudinal)? If yes, has this evaluation/research been published?

We are in the process of evaluating this programme with Mary Immaculate University and we hope to have a robust piece of research to publish in two years.

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