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Read And Ride With The ‘Books On Buses’ Scheme

Following a successful pilot program last year, Latrobe City in partnership with Latrobe Valley Buslines, will deliver an innovative early literacy project ‘Books on Buses’.

By Latrobe City - 28th April 2011 - Back to News

Latrobe City mayor, Councillor Darrell White said that the pilot was successful and feedback from parents who took part has ensured the new program will be even better.

"Bus drivers commented on the success of the program and parents suggested rotating the book bags more often to offer greater variety. We’ve made these changes and the program will be rolled out. Book bags will be available on bus routes between towns, for example, from Traralgon to Moe or Morwell to Churchill.

"Latrobe City Libraries have provided all the books in the book bags from excess library stock and the program is just one of the many schemes to be supported by Council’s Early Literacy Project," Cr White said.

"Reading to your child has many benefits in terms of early literacy skills. Even a young baby can learn to recognise patterns of speech and enjoy the sing-song tone of a good children’s story book. The older child may enjoy looking at the pictures and exploring the storyline, and may even repeat the story verbatim after a while. A child can ask questions about the characters or simply point out colours, or animals or something else of interest on the page. All this supports a child’s understanding of words and language.

"The knock-on effect of having books on buses is that not only does the child have a more enjoyable experience of public transport, but so too does the parent or care provider," Cr White concluded.

Media Enquiries:

Media Relations Team

Telephone: 5128 5458 or 0407 862 977

Jacinta Kennedy, Manager Community Relations

Telephone: 5128 5421 or 0401 824 195

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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