Dozens of kindergarten students were treated to a special storytime at Wollongong City Library on Wednesday with books read to them by local footballers.
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Dylan Farrell and Dan Hunt from the St George Illawarra Dragons took part in the 15th annual National Simultaneous Storytime, held at libraries across the Illawarra and around the country.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said it was a "liberating" initiative to encourage more youngsters to read books, laying the foundations for better opportunities in life.
"If reading becomes a natural experience ... in a way that's as common as just breathing, that's a great gift to give to a child because then they go on and develop other skills and insights," he said. "Enjoying books and reading means you then appropriate more knowledge, participate more thoroughly in society, and for me adds to the social capital of our city." The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) decided to use sports stars in this year's program to raise the profile of reading, and show boys in particular how "cool" it could be.
"One of the issues around children's literacy is they don't generally see dads reading, it tends to be the mum reading at home," said ALIA CEO, Sue McKerracher. Nationwide, more than 450,000 children took part in Simultaneous Storytime in schools and libraries.
