The Growing Seed of Reading: A Longitudinal Study on the Bookstart Program for the Second Generation of the New Immigrants

• In Event: From Early Reading to Language Policy to AI: Global Perspectives on Education

Proposal

In 1992, BookTrust launched the Bookstart program in the United Kingdom with a pilot project involving 300 babies. The organization commissioned local libraries and health institutions to undertake research into the effects of reading on young children’s learning in later life. The study confirmed that reading to babies had a demonstrable positive effect; consequently, the Bookstart program was implemented in libraries across the United Kingdom. In 2005, Hsin-Yi Foundaiton in Taiwan introduced the program to several local libraries in Taiwan, expecting to promote the same idea. In 2009, Ministry of Education subsidized Bookstart and required all the local libraries to employ the program.
Through previous research experiences in Bookstart by interviewing several major forerunners of the program in Taiwan, it is discovered that the forerunners all have a great sense of commitment to the efforts of promoting reading activities. Even if the government support is inadequate, they still find a way to continue the program. They firmly believe that cultivating a good reading habit when kids were young is an important approach to get kids (especially the disadvantaged kids) into a positive learning cycle.
After the pandemic, many pre-pandemic library activities have gradually resumed. However, what has been difficult to restore are the families and library users whose participation was potentially lost during the pandemic. The researcher conducted interviews with 5 pioneers who first promoted early reading and the Bookstart program in Taiwan, 6 partners involved in implementing the Hsin-Yi Foundation’s project, 5 Jin-Zhen Library staff members, and 14 participating families (parents + children), totaling 30 interviewees. In addition, archival documents of Bookstart activities from 2007 to 2019 (such as parent–child worksheets, volunteer training records, and staff reflection reports) were analyzed. Together, these sources addressed the following questions:
1) By tracking families who participated in Bookstart from 2007 to 2023, what were the program’s impacts on family interaction, learning achievement, and reading habits?
2) By applying fourth-generation policy evaluation with different stakeholders (planners, implementers, and policy recipients), what were their respective concerns, claims, and issues?

From the in-depth interviews, the researcher found that a sense of mission was the key factor sustaining the staff’s dedication. For parents, their initial motivation was rooted in the belief that libraries are good places and reading is a good habit. The study analyzed long-term records accumulated through the library’s implementation of Bookstart and combined this with in-depth interviews of stakeholders. The goal was to uncover how library reading activities and the cultivation of reading habits in Taiwan gradually influence family interactions and learning outcomes. The research also intended to reflect on how policy, from its early stage of diffusion to later stages of sustained implementation, can continue moving forward and find new opportunities for breakthroughs.

Author

• Yi-jung Wu, National Open University, TAIWAN