Country music legend Dolly Parton has gifted more than a thousand books to the children of West Lothian and is now helping teach adults to use storytime to give a head start in learning.

Pre-school children enrolled in the Imagination Library programme through Almond Housing Association receive a free book in the post every month until their 5th Birthday. Almond Housing Association has already signed up more than 130 children, and is keen to give the gift of reading to even more, with a target of 300.

The Association worked with the Imagination Library to pilot Story Starters training for staff and volunteers – to show them how to use picture books to teach greater communication and language skills in young children.

Story Starters is a partnership between Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and children’s literacy charity Beanstalk. It is currently being delivered across England and evaluated by LuCiD; a project based at the University of Liverpool which provides ground-breaking research on communication and language. Randomised Control Trial (RCT) results from the programme, funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery, are due early next year.

Livingston-based Almond Housing Association launched Story Starters in Scotland with an adapted pilot of the project last week to celebrate one year of being an Imagination Library affiliate during Book Week Scotland.

The social landlord recruited 12 volunteers for training in how to use the magic of books to engage children in the playfulness of reading, so they go on to enjoy stories and reading for pleasure throughout their lives.

Almond’s community engagement officer, Barbara Boertien, said: “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has proved popular, and we are encouraging all of our families with children under 5 to sign up to the programme. Story Starters is about going a step further and helping our tenants with young children to support and encourage each other to share the magic of stories.”

Kirsteen Watson, regional director of The Dollywood Foundation UK, said: “We know that the monthly delivery of our books creates excitement among the children who receive them and hope that by adding this extra layer of training, parents and carers will enjoy the books and time they spend with their children reading even more.”

Ginny Lunn, CEO at Beanstalk, added: “This is our first adventure into Scotland and we’re thrilled to enable even more children to be supported with their reading skills. Literacy issues exist across the UK and we hope this is just the first of many Story Starter sessions in Scotland.”

According to the Ready to Read report, published by Save the Children, one in five children growing up in poverty in Scotland leaves primary school unable to read well. And if youngsters do not learn to speak and listen from an early age, developing their understanding of words and stories, they struggle with reading.