Taking a leaf from Dolly Parton's book

Bradgate Rotary seeking books to change children's lives

Not many people know that country singer Dolly Parton is a member of Rotary. Even fewer, perhaps, will know that she has spent millions of dollars buying books to increase literacy – one of the areas of focus of Rotary International.

Although Bradgate Rotary has fewer resources than Rotarian Dolly, its members are just as committed to helping achieve that aim in our part of Leicestershire.

The club has signed up to an initiative called Books4Home which has already resulted in 230,000 children in Staffordshire, Shropshire and the West Midlands receiving free books.

Bradgate Rotary is committed to providing about 400 books to Anstey Latimer Primary School and to Martinshaw Primary School in Groby.

Now our lead on the project, Alan Rockey, is working on ways to get pre-read books which are in good condition for children of primary school age before the end of this school year.

Local children whose literacy improves as a result of reading more will have a lasting benefit which will help them in their studies and future careers.

Alan says: "According to the National Literacy Trust, children's enjoyment of reading is at an all-time low, with an acute decline among primary-aged children.

"So we’re excited to be supporting the #RotaryBooks4Home project by providing books for children in our catchment area"

2026 is the National Year of Reading, and with Education and Literacy being one of Rotary’s Areas of Focus, we at Bradgate Rotary are stepping up to help, but we need help. We’re looking to collect pre-loved children’s books in great condition as part of the RotaryBooks4Home project. They should ideally be a mix of challenging reading books, and fiction or non-fiction books, either hardback or paperback.

Members of the public are asked to donate books at Anstey Library or to contact Alan Rockey on 07584 683022 or on e-mail by clicking on the button on this page.

Update on 03/06/2026:
Members of Bradgate Rotary will be at Martinshaw School on 17/06/2026 and 25/06/2026 and at Anstey Latimer on 29/06/2026.