Early literacy skills are building blocks for your child's future learning. By joining in 1000 Books Before School to your young child, you're giving them a solid base to build upon through their school years and beyond.
Each story you read with your child unlocks new ideas and words, growing their ability to communicate and reason. Plus, sharing a book together creates precious moments of connection.
The thought of reading 1000 books might seem overwhelming, but the library is here to support you. Even if you read just one book a day, you'll reach your goal in less than three years. It's all about taking small, consistent steps.
Every book your child reads or listens to counts!
From 1 May, we'll be moving from the Beanstack app to a new paper-based booklet. This change comes from following feedback from families, and is designed to make the program more accessible, more hands-on, and easier for young children to enjoy.
Beanstack will be discontinued on 2 June. After this date, access to the app will no longer be available.
If you have already begun the program, ask our staff to help you transfer your child's current progress so they can continue right where they left off.
We're here to make the transition easy and to keep your child motivated on their reading journey.
If you have any questions, feel free to speak with our staff next time your visit.
- Make your child a member of the library
- Sign up to the program and receive your free library bag and pick up your booklet
- Get reading and log your books
- Children can log in each book they read with stickers, stamps, colouring, or any fun creative way your child enjoys
- Every 100 books, show us the booklet at any of our branches to receive a milestone prize
FAQs
No, you don’t need to read 1000 different books. Reading the same book multiple times is OK and can be beneficial! Repetition helps reinforces learning and language development. So, read their favourites often, and add it to the count each time.
Parents or legal guardians can join a child up in the library by visiting any library branch and filling in a short form. It is free!
We will need evidence of your address, like a Driver’s licence, healthcare card or utility bill and evidence that you are the child’s parent or guardian such as a Medicare card with your and their name on it.
No, any books your child reads or listens to counts to the 1000 books milestone. You can read any kind of book together – ones you have at home, stories from pre-school or library Storytime, or even eBooks on our platforms:
All children can benefit from being read to, so it counts if you are reading the book to your child. To nurture a love for reading in a hesitant child, join us for Pre-school or Saturday Storytime, Baby Rhymetime, or Toddlertime. We'll share engaging book experiences and offer tips for bringing stories to life at home.
Your child can also experience books in the way that they prefer like videos on Story Box Library or comic books on Comics Plus. You can ask also our staff for help selecting books that your child might enjoy. We're always happy to help share our recommendations.
The program ends when you have logged 1000 books, or your child turns 6. You can join the program at any time before your child is 6.