In Kent, Libraries and Archives worked with Children, Families and Education, who provided resources to enable Family Liaison Officers and Parent Support Advisors to enhance the value of Booktime:
We looked at different ways of adding to the experience by holding gifting sessions in libraries, encouraging parents and colleagues from Adult Education to attend.
Libraries provided a promotional library pack aimed at parents. This outlined library services to children, listed opening hours for the relevant area of Kent, included a RaW leaflet and offered a small gift for any child who joined the library or borrowed a book as a result of Booktime.
Through Booktime, we have made contact with 250 school staff whose job it is to target parents, and we now regard them as a valuable way to reach our family audience.
- Over 2000 pupils visited their local library with their school for a Booktime gifting session
- Calls to the BBC RaW campaign doubled in our region during the Booktime promotion
- Issues rose by 3.2% over the same period last year (an extra 7,800 issues)
- In Sittingbourne, 20 parents joined the library for the first time
- At a school event, an Adult Education tutor was present, and six parents signed up for courses
- 1,800 pupils made an extra visit to a library after their gifting session, specifically as a result of Booktime
- A comment card from a mother said she'd never been to the library before, and as a result of our promotional envelope, brought her 4 year old along, and they've both joined
