Books in Homes supporting literacy in eight regional Queensland schools

The Books in Homes Program will continue in north west Queensland for another five years with Glencore extending its support by funding eight primary schools in the region. Over 4,000 students participate each year, which means an estimated 60,000 new and quality books-of-choice delivered between 2019 and 2023.

An additional 5760 books will be donated to the participating school libraries and 3300 books will be awarded to children for improved attendance, excellent citizenship towards their peers, accelerated reading results and who are generally 'Caught Being Good'. That’s a total of almost 70,000 books supplied over five years to children in remote, regional and Indigenous communities in north west Queensland.

Glencore first started supporting Books in Homes in 2007, and to date has funded over $1.1 million and provided over 160,000 books to children in schools living in disadvantaged circumstances, remote or Indigenous communities, including schools in Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Camooweal and Dajarra. Of those 160,000 books, over 143,000 books-of-choice went directly to the children and their families.

This continuity of commitment to providing children with access to the Books in Homes Program so they can build their home libraries has forged a strong bond between the students and the Glencore staff who attend the Book Giving Assemblies as Role Models during Terms 1, 2 and 4 each year when the Program operates.

A 20-year study of 27 nations by researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, found that having as few as 20 books around the house can significantly impact a child’s future education. The more books added, the greater the benefit.

In addition, in the Australian Kids and Family Reading Report (2015) conducted by Scholastic Australia and YouGov, 91% of the children surveyed said their favourite books are the ones they had picked out themselves. Indeed, 89% of the children surveyed said they were more likely to finish reading books they picked out themselves. Having children choose their own books is tantamount to the philosophy and mission of the Books in Homes Program, which offers books across four reading levels and that predicates Glencore’s recognition of the value of their sponsorship within their community.