The primary purpose of the Books in Homes Australia Programme is to alter the journey of young children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances in Australia.

This is achieved through improved LITERACY — something most of us take for granted!

Children living in less privileged circumstances including remote parts of Australia often lack ready access to books in their homes. Being born into an disadvantaged or isolated community should not exclude any child from achieving their potential.

Encouraging a love of books and the joy that comes from reading and imagining the magic of a good story is something that lasts a lifetime.

It is well recognised that children who are given the chance to develop confidence in reading will gain greater benefit from their schooling and have more opportunities available to them in the future to live a productive and rewarding life.

Every participating child chooses nine quality books per year to take home and build their own home libraries. Each book is labelled “This Book Belongs To....” and  is often the first new possession they have owned. The books are chosen from a different Preview Pack of 48 titles in 3 terms of which 25% are by Indigenous Authors. The Preview Pack is donated to the school library and has on many occasions been the start of this library.

 "It’s not a panacea, but it is a seed sown."

This Programme is a working solution for children to break away from the poverty cycle in which they were born and become productive members of the community.

As one teacher commented after the 2001 Books in Homes Australia Pilot:

 "You have given me wealth. I do not have a lot of money,
but this programme gives wealth to my children, THANK YOU!"

Books in Homes Australia invites inspirational Role Models to attend each school's Book Giving Assembly, people of all walks of life that the children look up to and respect. We ask the Role Models to share their personal and professional success stories with the students - reinforcing that reading is the key to a productive future, and the best part, to help hand out all those books!

There is no other reading / literacy programme in Australia with this formula: 

& Creating a legacy of books in the home where once there were few or no books

& Creating a love of books and a thirst of knowledge

& Improving children's literacy levels and a start to improving children's grades at school

& Helping to develop children's communication skills, respect, ownership, responsibility and potentials

& Encourages interaction with families and the local community to participate with their children's reading

& Provide long term prospects for disadvantaged communities to gain social and economic benefits as a literate community.

Currently there are 23,000 disadvantaged children on the Book in Homes programme from 225 disadvantaged school communities across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia. 

Please become part of our solution by making a donation, sponsoring a school or by becoming a role model today.

Children are the future.  Reading is Australia's future!

Thank you!