8 February 8 2016
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Happy Talk and Cork City Libraries have announced a citywide book swap surrounding World Book Day which takes place on March 3rd.
Cork City public Libraries are run by Cork City Council
Children across the city are invited to bring a book they no longer read to their crèche, preschool or school, over the coming weeks and on World Book Day they will go home with a ‘new’ swapped book.
This initiative is being coordinated by Happy Talk and Cork City Libraries, who are working together with children’s education settings to promote reading and early literacy and language skills.
Happy Talk Co-ordinator Aoife O’Shea said the language development project is delighted to partner with Cork City Libraries to promote the Right to Read Campaign.
“This a common sense way that we can promote children’s reading at no cost to families. I would therefore encourage all educational settings to get involved in organising a swap. We have resources available to explain how to organise it effectively.
These resources are available on the Happy Talk section of the Cork City Partnership website, the Happy Talk Facebook page, or direct from Aoife O’Shea at aoshea@partnershipcork.ie
Ms. O’Shea added that parents are also being encouraged to support their child to take part. “Parents themselves could organise a book swap at a birthday party and sports clubs could also get involved. It’s never too early to start with books.”
Happy Talk is a language development project that works with children aged 0-6 in Cork City. An evaluation of the Happy Talk programme between 2011 and 2013 identified improvements of 15% in language skills among Junior Infant children.
