Bookstart funding to stop in England from April 2011

[Campaspe]

I've posted this in chat, but guess it really belongs here.

www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/?p =777

Hope this link works. It advises that from April 2011, all funding for Bookstart will stop, but this applies in England only. See the Booktrust website for more details.

I am so angry at this short-sighted decision and the fact that is applies to England only. How can I campaign to get this changed? Anything that promotes reading and education for children in this way helps to create a more just and equal society. HOw can we not afford to support literacy in this way????

I still don't understand the point of Book Start. If a parent wants a particular book you walk to you local library and pick one or order a book at no cost to you. My library is brilliant, I think at the last count I have borrowed 800+ books over 5 years. I really don't need a few books and crayons and I always thought it was an example of waste that should be cut out. If you want a book your child can "chew" then go to an NCT say were there are often often sold for pennies and are in very good condition.

This is dreadful news but Mumsnetters can stop this. Nothing can stop Mumsnetters!

The scheme costs the price of a second class stamp of everybody in the UK to get access to books for their kids.

Join us on twitter.com/savebookstart. And sign the petition here. bit.ly/e6qzCl

I've never really understood Bookstart either.
Doesn't everyone in the UK already has access to books for their children through libraries?

"As a charity Booktrust does not make a profit so materials are sourced at very competitive prices and this keeps our costs very low. For instance, central funding from the taxpayer is only 25% of the retail cost of delivering Bookstart. This is thanks to our sponsors and to our charitable status."

from here

So what is the problem? It's a charity, and if the public doesn't want to fund 25% of what it does, then it has to stop doing it. That is the way charities work. Or are you saying it's not really a charity?

Clearly the public can't be arsed, whether or not you like that. I don't see why "government" money (there is no such thing actually, it's your money & my money) gets thrown at it if it is in fact a real charity.

If you are that bothered, set up a direct debit or go and rattle a tin like everyone else does for their particular charity. You might find that is a bit too much like hard work when the outcome is as many have described on this thread.

Of course, it's much easier to demand that taxes are spent on this bit of special pleading, but I think those days are now coming to an end.

This is one of those things which is made far too complicated some preschools hand them out, some libraries, some HV. It would be far better to say 'if you are on benefits, please claim this pack for your kids when you have a baby, it has books to last them up to 3'

Or put it in the sodding Bounty pack.

People on high incomes don't need these packs. While I agree with them for low income families, it's nuts when we get given them, twice in our case because we have two children.

Such a shame. An organisation which does a little bit of good - stopped by a government which can't stand anything that might actually be enjoyed by the poor or vulnerable.

So much for the Big Society. Big fat lie, more like.

And let's nail this 'why do middle class people get it' stuff for once and all. Universality - handing stuff out to everyone, e.g. the way child benefit used to operate - is a darn sight CHEAPER than means-testing or otherwise having to carve up the recipients. Working out precisely how much money a family has wastes money in admin that could have been spent on the primary purpose - in this case, books.

Please sign the petition if you support Bookstart, and if you can post a link to your FB and twitter sites (if you have them), that would be great.

Edam - great point about the cost of universal gifting actually being cheaper than means-testing. Anyway, why should an assumption be made that just because a family have money, they know all about the importance of reading to children? Educational and cultural impoverishment is not just related to money!

I love the selective ignoring of the other posters who are less than impressed with Bookstart. Most <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=digiscape.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/head-in-sand.jpg&imgrefurl=digiscape.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/analog-ostrich/&usg=__xVvE0zLKnna5GQ6LXc0wdV7GxmI=&h=206&w=400&sz=18&hl=en&start=0&sig2=xWFDB2Xd0X3yOBhGlZ5f5w&zoom=1&tbnid=CU_TqxgJMnXxmM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=191&ei=XfQUTdTAMOqShAewsaW5Dg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dostrich%2Bwith%2Bhead%2Bin%2Bsand%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1532%26bih%3D772%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=860&vpy=257&dur=1267&hovh=161&hovw=313&tx=190&ty=102&oei=XfQUTdTAMOqShAewsaW5Dg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">impressive!

V. true Camp - I know some well-off families where the children are effectively raised by the nanny. (Am not bitching about families with nannies in general, I used to employ one - just that uncaring parents aren't a class issue.

I am a published children's author, former primary teacher and not an at-home dad to my wee two year old. Bookstart has been fantastic - I enjoyed the free books and felt that someone cared about my daughter's development. She has had books around since two weeks old and loves reading and books - she knows her alphabet/how to hold/explore books etc purely because she has been encouraged to do so - gently and with love. Parents who do not foster such passion are letting their children down - why? Reading is the foundation of every other subject in school, and it allows imagination to flourish. When I read that parents are not willing to let their children have books at an early age I despair. Bookstart was brilliant because it at least gets parents thinking about reading and gets them to consider what reading means for their child - of course some parents don't appreciate this effort ... and I question their capability as parents. You don't stop kids from walking - so why limit their reading? Bookstart needs reinstating - so what if £13 million quid is spent - if some kids come out of it as readers having been stimulated early then that will reap benefits for society. The dour doom and gloom merchants on this site who can't see the benefit of free books should question what they are doing with/ for their kids.

Alt, do you really think that throwing a few books around magically turns people into readers? Wake up. It doesn't happen by some mysterious osmotic process.
Britian is awash in books (charity shops a good place to start) and guess what?
Our reading rate is shite.

Excleent news. Let's get rid everywhere else now.
I was embarassed to have expensive books and linen bags thrust at me when my children were toddlers. i didn't nned or want them.

Giving books out for free will not and does not encourage people to read them to their kids. If you don't want to do it, you won't and it's that simple.

I always found that charity shops are an excellent source of new reading material for my children and we spend many a happy half hour looking through the selection on offer for cheap cheap cheap. My house is full of childrens books, most of them gifts or second-hand.

I did find it patronising being given the books, we had them twice too and the set given to my DD when she started school was utter shite IMO. Hate the cloth bag too - carrying your toddler's things in it has become almost de-rigeur where I come from.

im in the target group sp 4 dc on benefits etc

and i refused the bookstart pack told them to pass on to someone else as dc have plenty of books and we read together a lot and dont need telling about reading to my dc.

Hate the sterotyping that goes with the above oh that mum must not read with her dc.Dd age 7 can pick and read everything and does so have to hide stuff, ds1 and ds3 love reading to and ds2 like sbeing read to.Would rather the money was targetted elsewhere maybe into surestart groups

How do you know that giving out free books doesn't encourage reading?

Anecdotes about your own experiences are not evidence.

So many people say "oh I don't need them", implying that that enough makes it a bad idea

As said up thread, universality is cheaper than means testing. So what if people gives books to charity shops. Maybe they've read them, maybe not. Someone else then has a chance to get free books.

I read to DS loads and haven't had any free books - but I wouldn't turn my nose up at them.

yes but iggly the idea of bookstart was to encourage people to read with their dc.And you already did so for you it would not serve the purpose it was meant for

Yes I know. But just because it wouldn't encourage me to read as I already do, it doesn't mean it wouldn't work for someone who doesn't already.

That was pretty garbled, sorry! My point is, with so many of the cuts affecting the disadvantaged, people who are not disadvantaged saying that "well it wasn't helping me" miss the point.

Yes but then would the money not be better aimed at surestart where they can encourage the familys that need the extra support. I know that in some areas surestart really is a lifeline

It's £13m so not much to make a difference I think. This money was going to a charity which already has the admin channels in place.

Also I've not seen any official lines that this is not effective. Just anecdotes. If the cut is backed up by rational argument then I'll change my tune

Look, we have to make cuts. As badger says, we're spending 25% more than we earn. Based on that, cutting giving away free books seems a fairly painless way to cut back.

If not Bookstart then what?

(cue lots of tax the rich & it's all the bankers fault posts)

This is a shame, but I think it could have been better targetted - I'd happily not have received the books, we have plenty of books, but it's sad if some children who don't will miss it.

Riven, I really don't want to hijack the thread, but I've got to pick up on the 'child benefit for the wealthy' comment - we are not remotely wealthy, and we are losing ten percent of our income through the CB cuts, when people on DOUBLE our income are keeping theirs. And as for 'giving it all back' - they are talking about something like £150 a year for ALL married couples, whether they have children or not. So they take £3000, give back £150....and that's IF they do the married couples thing, they're talking about that only being for non-HRT payers. And for couples who don't have children, they will be getting an EXTRA £150 a year, despite the fact that they have none of the costs associated with children.

I don't want to open this all up again, but the child benefit cuts are not 'hitting the wealthy' because of the ill-thought-out way it is being implemented. I've quoted this before, but the IFS puts us on the 34th centile of 'where you are' in terms of standard of living, and we are being hugely hit by this cut.

Iglly, there are no discernible effects on reading rates since Bookstart was introduced.
That good enough for you?

Riven,you say your nearest library is 2 miles away. So what? Mine is about 5 miles away. I believe the ideia is to go there occasionally so I can't actually see what you are complaining about. Do you think one should be attached to every street?

moondog well it would be if you could tell me where that came from?