DOLLY PARTON’S IMAGINATION LIBRARY IS NOW AVAILABLE IN RAVENSWOOD.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (DPIL) is a special program that helps kids to build a love of reading from a young age. Rosie’s Reading is excited to bring this program to Tasmania, working with United Way Australia.

Any child born in 2024 or 2025 and living in Ravenswood can join the program. Each child will get one free book every month from birth (or the next month after registering) until they turn 5 years old - and they get to keep the books!

“You can never get enough books into the hands of children.”

register your child Here
Donate to the Ravenswood program here
Donna and Sues from the Ravenswood Child and Family Learning Centre stand with Rotary Club Central Launceston President Chris Griffin and Club Literacy Director Phil Deavin beside Dolly Parton

Rotary Club of Central Launceston

The Rotary Club of Central Launceston has long supported literacy at Ravenswood Heights Primary School with a daily shared reading program that has been running for over 7 years. Now, they are a Founding Sponsor, delivering Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to parents and caregivers of little Tasmanians living in Ravenswood who have yet to start school.

This Rotary Club is dedicated to education and supporting little Tasmanians to have big dreams, a love of reading, and to be school-ready and equipped to learn.

Keep an eye out for the Rotary Central Launceston Golf Day, held annually in December. Funds from that event will be directed to book deliveries for years to come!

Pictured: Donna and Sues from the Ravenswood Child and Family Learning Centre with Rotary Club Central Launceston President Chris Griffin and Club Literacy Director Phil Deavin and Dolly (of course!)

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

  • Any child currently residing in Ravenswood, Tasmania born after January 1, 2024.

  • A monthly home delivered book program for children from 0-5 years old, free of charge to families.

  • Each year, an independent local Australian committee selects a special booklist of age-appropriate and culturally diverse books. This committee is aware of the importance of localising the books, so the booklist is Australian, with many well-known Australian titles, including indigenous titles, that have Australian English spelling. i.e., Color is Colour, and Mom is Mum.

  • Reading to your child from a young age will help their language development and assist them to develop the skills to read themselves as they get older.

  • There’s more to this program than just the reading. Giving a child pride of ownership, offering a child the chance to get excited each month when that gift arrives allowing them to build a relationship with books being an exciting gift. In addition, research also shows that recall is better when we read on a physical page and books help to regulate a busy mind but devices overstimulate which can cause sleep and concentration issues.

  • Yes. We will be working with local partners including schools and libraries to offer support for parents who may have literacy challenges. This way we can also help parents who may have low reading ability.

  • Contact Rosie’s Reading via message or support@rosiesreading.org and we will update your delivery address. Please let us know as soon as you know, because a book may already be on the way to the old address.

  • It’s often thought that a lack of reading only happens in poorer households but that’s not always true. A lack of reading happens for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes parents think they’re too busy, sometimes they just forget, some think it’s the school’s job to teach a child to read. This is a community challenge and as they say “it takes a village to raise a child”,

  • Books may arrive at different times of the month, but you should receive a book within 5 weeks of registration. Please message us if you don’t.

    Keep in mind, you should also go to your 2 week CHaPS visit, where you will receive your Little Tasmanians book from Brand Tasmania. This isn’t part of the library, but we love that you get this Tasmanian book first :-)

  • No.

    The program is free to families and caregivers.


    Rosie’s Reading is working with community and business partners to raise the funds to keep the program running. The cost for us to deliver the books is $9 per month per child (or $540 across 5 years).

  • Our target is to have it available to ALL Tasmanian children but that will cost us a lot more money than we currently have.

    Rosie’s Reading believe that we do not make a promise we cannot keep.
    So we want to make sure that any child who starts the program will receive their full 5 years of books.

    This means we raise money to open an area (usually around a Child and Family Learning Centre), and once we know we can fund that area long term, we open another area.

    We’re always working on new areas with local business and community leaders.

  • Rosie Mostogl was Rick’s Mum (the President of Rosie’s Reading Inc). She didn’t have great literacy skills after a pretty bumpy childhood, but becoming a parent proved to be a catalyst for her to polish her reading, and books were a very important part of the household. Rosie passed away in 2022 and this charity has been set up to give a warm hug to all of Tassie’s Kids from Rosie through the gift of reading.

HOW DOES imagination library CHANGE LIVES?

PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP

These books are delivered to the child with their name on it. Something that is theirs to keep that they can take pride in.

INFANT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

A baby’s brain develops more quickly during the first 1000 days than at any other time of life. Shared reading helps to build the ability to focus, concentrate and regulate, and also build emotional and cognitive skills.

EARLY BONDING WITH PARENTS

Reading provides a parent a chance to connect with their child. To snuggle while they hear their parents’ voice builds a level of security, trust, harmony and resilience.

HELP BROADER COMMUNITY ISSUES

Poor literacy is associated with disengaged students, low (or no) school attendance, decreased workforce capacity, reduced work productivity, lower earnings, and welfare dependency and is linked to crime, poor health outcomes and social isolation.

BE READY FOR KINDERGARTEN

A child's language development begins well before they enter school, heavily influenced by their home learning environment. Evidence shows that regardless of income, children from “language-rich” home environments can bridge the word gap that would otherwise put them behind their peers when they start school.

PROMPT READING FREQUENCY

Even homes with mid to high levels of education can get busy. The more regularly we read the more we make the most of those early years to learn more words, tap in to curiosity and to be inspired. Having books sent monthly sets the tone of a ‘reading household’ and acts as a timely prompt.

Australians are reading less every year and this is a problem for children. We want to create a culture of reading, to see more books being picked up more often and to spark imaginations and big dreams in our young people!

LEARN MORE ABOUT IMAGINATION LIBRARY