First Five Forever 

First 5 Forever is a family literacy program delivered by public libraries and Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKCs) with the primary aim of providing strong early literacy foundations for all Queensland children aged 0-5 years.
First 5 Forever connects families to the information, resources and support they need to build the best foundation for their child’s future language and literacy development. 

Why is this important?

Did you know that your child's brain forms over one million new connections every second?  And by three years old your child has already developed 90% of their brain?
In the first years of life a human brain develops at its fastest, and what happens within the first five years last a liftetime. 
Family life and early experiences are important for healthy brain growth and research shows that simple things like talking, reading, singing and playing with children from birth have positive impacts that last a lifetime and this has flow on benefits for the whole community. 
Babies and young children learn best by listening and interacting with the important adults in their lives during everyday activities – whether that’s talking about what you can see on the way to the park, singing nursery rhymes, pointing out something you both view out the window, or learning new words while shopping for groceries.
Our programs are designed to help local families integrate talking, reading, singing and playing into their daily routines. Remember, these connections can happen any place, any time! 
 

First Five Forever in the Burdekin 

Through funding and support by the State Library of Queensland and the State Government, we are able to offer our community a variety of programs to support parents in talking, reading, singing and playing with their children.
We host weekly Baby Rhyme Time, Storytime and Toddler Time sessions, along with monthly Messy Play and Play Time sessions and outreach to the community. If you would like to discuss outreach opportunities, please contact us here.