A scheme to introduce books to babies has been launched in Maldon.
Essex Libraries and educational charity BookTrust are behind Bookstart, which aims to encourage parents to share books with babies and very young children.
Maldon Library hosted the launch of the project, which was attended by about 20 children.
Local storyteller Jane English was on hand to entertain the youngsters and Maldon Town Centre manager Dr Marion Wells cut the celebration cake.
Bookstart is a partnership involving libraries, health visitors, Maldon District Council and Sainsbury's.
Bookstart bags, containing free books and information about how to get the most out of sharing books, will be handed out by health visitors to parents at babies' nine-month development checks.
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article