Press Release

A Yorkshire town is preparing for the arrival of Dolly Parton - not for a gig but for the launch of the country and western singer's literacy scheme for pre-school children.

Dolly Parton has seen thousands of free books distributed across America as part of her plan to boost the reading skills of pre-school children.

Now the star is set to launch her Imagination Library at the Magna Centre - a former steel works in Rotherham. Rotherham is thought to be the first area in the country to sign up for the Dolly Parton experiment to encourage young children to discover the joys of reading.

Every pre-school age child in Rotherham will be sent a free book every month.

For families in the rest of the UK, help is also at hand. On Freeads.co.uk there are thousands of educational tools including books, games and computers for parents to snap up, often at bargain basement prices.

Chief executive Duncan Horton: "While we can't compete with Dolly on the 'free of charge' side of things, we'll be working nine to five to make sure that we have the widest range of items for sale for our users."