Join in with National Bookstart Week fun at your local library

Hertfordshire County Council’s library service will be celebrating National Bookstart Week 2016 with events across the county from this week to encourage families to dive into a good book this summer.

The theme of this year’s National Bookstart Week (Saturday 4th June – Sunday 12th June) is ‘Under the Sea’. The reading charity BookTrust has more than 450,000 copies of the picture book A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea by Jessica Law and illustrated by Jill McDonald to give away.

Hertfordshire Libraries will be giving them away to families at our ‘Baby Rhyme Time’, ‘Toddler Tales’ and ‘Weekend Stories’ events so be sure to come along to your local library and join in. Events will include stories, rhymes and lots of fun undersea activities to inspire families to read together.

National Bookstart Week is an annual celebration of BookTrust’s flagship reading programme, Bookstart, which gives every child in England and Wales a free reading pack in the first year of their life and again when they are in nursery school. The ethos of the charity is to remind families of the importance of reading for fun – even if it’s just for ten minutes a day.

Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health, Localism and Libraries, Fiona Hill, said: “Making time to read at home and in the library gives children the best start before they reach school age. We invite all young families to join the fun at their local library this National Bookstart Week.”

Families should visit their nearest library or children’s centre to find out more about their local National Bookstart Week event and for more information about what’s on at your local library, visit: www.hertsdirect.org/libraries.

(Source: Hertfordshire County Council)