Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to cover 10 London boroughs, up from five

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which sends young children a free book each month up to the age of five, is to run in 10 London boroughs instead of five. Once the change takes effect, 157,000 children in the capital will be able to sign up.

The Postcode Lottery is funding the expansion. The news comes a month after Parton’s death at 80. The singer founded the library in 1995 in honour of her father, who was never able to read or write.

Who can sign up for free books in London

There is no income test. Any child living in a borough where the library operates can be registered, whatever their family earns. The Dollywood Foundation says the scheme has delivered more than seven million books to children across the UK.

Harriet Sedrick-Ugo, an early years educator from south London, credits the books with giving Sienna, her daughter, who is four, “a lot more confidence”. Mother and daughter now read together every day thanks to the monthly parcel, she said. Books can be expensive, she added, so free copies would help a lot of families.

The foundation’s president, Jeff Conyers, said the singer would have been “incredibly proud” to see the scheme reach more of the capital. In his words, she was always pressing the foundation to get books to more children and families.

Fewer young children are being read to

Organisers of the scheme say reading at home has dropped sharply over the past decade or so. On the figures they cite, only 41% of under-fives now hear a book read to them often. In 2012 the share stood at 64%.

Teachers, meanwhile, say 28% of children arrive in reception unable to handle a book properly. Some swipe or tap at the paper, treating the page like a touchscreen.

Clara Govier, who runs the Postcode Lottery as managing director, said Parton understood how much a book shared between a child and an adult could do.

The British Library is hosting a celebration of the expansion. It falls shortly before Give Like Dolly Day, which is on 25 September.