Scottish Government spend on books for children and teenagers: FOI release

Information requested

How much money has the Scottish Government spent on free books for children and teenagers in each of the last five years, with a breakdown per year?

Response

We interpreted “each of the last five years” as meaning 2025/26 (i.e. the current financial year) and the four preceding financial years. We interpreted “free books” as meaning books which recipients obtain permanent ownership over – i.e. not those loaned, for example through library or other services. We approached your request on that basis.

To identify Scottish Government spending or funded schemes which involve the provision of free books for children and teenagers, we directly contacted relevant directorates within Scottish Government concerned with children, learning, and literacy, as well as conducting a dedicated search of available records.

As a result of this approach, a number of book gifting programmes funded by the Scottish Government were identified as being relevant to this request.

The Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Book Trust to operate two key “free book” programmes to children and young people, under grant agreements. The Bookbug Programme provides free books to children aged 0-5 years old. Read Write Count with First Minister programme provides free books to pupils in primaries 2 and 3.

The Scottish Government provides funding to the Dollywood Foundation to deliver the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Scotland, which gifts one book per month to every care-experienced child from birth until the age of five.

The Scottish Government funds Road Safety Scotland’s ‘Go Safe with Ziggy’ books, free and available to children aged 3-6 years in English, Gaelic and Scots; and the ‘Out and About’ Buggy Book, included in the Scottish Government’s Baby Box.

The Scottish Government’s national programme and roadshow campaign PlayTalkRead and Pathways Through Play Programme (PTR/PtP) highlights the importance of playing, talking and reading with children from birth to 5 years old to boost their development. Part of these activities include the gift an activity pack to families who attend a PlayTalkRead session or to families who participate in a Pathways Through Play session, which includes a book.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to Gaelic-specific programmes such as Stòrlann and Scots Hoose in co-operation with Yaldi. Stòrlann is funded to produce and distribute Gaelic education resources from early years to secondary level. Scots Hoose in co-operation with Yaldi Books have provide printed books, comics and plays to schools for children and young people since the 2022/23 financial year.

Additionally, Stòrlann receives funding through Bòrd na Gàidhlig (BnG) which is funded by the Scottish Government. The amounts provided by BnG over the relevant years is not held by the Scottish Government.

The table below outlines the Scottish Government grant funding for each of these schemes over the last five years from 2021/22 to 2025/26:

	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26	TOTAL
Bookbug	£1,666,300.00	£1,775,399.40	£1,800,000.00	£1,800,000.00	£1,800,000.00	£8,841,699.40
RWC with the First Minister	£949,957.00	£932,132.00	£932,132.00	£932,075.00	£932,075.00	£4,678,371.00
Dolly Parton Imagination Library	£73,000.00	£73,000.00	£73,000.00	£73,000.00	£73,000.00	£365,000.00
Go Safe with Ziggy/Out and About	£397,132.26	£255,199.01	£283,375.71	£297,937.36	£0.00	£1,233,644.34
Smart Play Network PTR/PTP	£454,018.00	£704,000.00	£645,000.00	£645,000.00	£645,000.00	£3,093,018.00
Stòrlann	£530,000.00	£530,000.00	£530,000.00	£530,000.00	£984,000.00	£3,104,000.00
Scots Hoose	£0.00	£70,000.00	£70,000.00	£70,000.00	£70,000.00	£280,000.00
Yaldi Books	£0.00	£18,000.00	£18,000.00	£18,000.00	£18,900.00	£72,900.00
TOTAL	£4,070,407.26	£4,357,730.41	£4,351,507.71	£4,366,012.36	£4,522,975.00	£21,668,632.74

Please note these figures represent total grant funding amounts provided to the organisation/programme in a financial year, and include the cost of purchase, printing and distribution of free books for children and teenagers as well as other costs. In some cases the exact sum spent on the purchase, printing, and distribution of free books is not held by Scottish Government.

If you would like to learn more about the programmes we fund please refer to the below links:

1. Read Write Count with the First Minister - Scottish Book Trust - Scottish Book Trust
2. Bookbug - Scottish Book Trust
3. Scotland - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
4. Ziggy-Toolkit-November-2020.pdf
5. PlayTalkRead | Play Projects | Smart Play Network
6. Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig
7. ScotsHoose Yaldi – Scots language learning resources for children, teachers and parents.

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