Gaelic Bookbug success at East Renfrewshire Libraries

Young families in East Renfrewshire are benefitting from new bilingual Gaelic Bookbug sessions, hosted at local libraries.

Article Source: East Renfrewshire Culture & Leisure
Last Updated: 17 June 2024 11:10

East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure introduced the free sessions for pre-school children at Thornliebank, Clarkston and Barrhead Foundry libraries, expanding the extensive Bookbug offering across all libraries. Bilingual sessions support young children in developing language skills, offer access to Gaelic in early years and nurture their interest in learning new languages at home.

Rachel Henderson, who provides the sessions across East Renfrewshire, explained: “We now have Gaelic education within East Renfrewshire and these sessions allow families to access Gaelic in early years, too. Then, if they decide, they can move onto Gaelic medium education. Gaelic Bookbug offers the chance to try other languages and hear other songs. We sing the same songs in Gaelic; the children know the actions, but they're often hearing words for the first time.

“The sessions give families the opportunity to access bilingualism at a young age. The benefits of bilingualism are amazing, especially in young children as they absorb things so quickly.”

Families with young children attending the sessions are reaping the benefits of the bilingual sessions, which take place monthly at Clarkston and Barrhead Foundry libraries. Full Gaelic weekly sessions are also hosted on Tuesdays at Thornliebank Library.

Sharon Dennison, who attends the bilingual sessions with her son, Kirk, said: “We're trying to learn Gaelic at home. The bilingual session is good as it exposes children to a different language from an early age. It's something I've never tried but I'm encouraging Kirk to learn and it makes me want to learn, too. I'm also interested in Spanish lessons in the future.”

Jennifer Sinclair recently attended her first bilingual Gaelic session with toddler, Emma. Jennifer said: “We come to the regular Bookbugs and wanted to try something different. My sister lives in Sweden so we've been learning some Swedish - Emma can even sing happy birthday in Swedish! It's good to go to the library and it gives you something to do to get out of the house and meet people.”

Library assistant Lesley Gold, who is based at Clarkston Library, supports the Gaelic Bookbug sessions. She added: “It's really good for the children to understand that Gaelic is very much a part of Scotland. There are Gaelic books that the children can be introduced to and they learn songs. They can take that home to learn more with their parents. It's an introduction to another part of our tradition in Scotland.”

Gaelic sessions are hosted at:
Thornliebank Library - every Tuesday at 10.15am

Bilingual Gaelic is hosted at:
Clarkston Library - first Wednesday of the month at 2.15pm
Barrhead Foundry Library - third Friday of the month at 10.30am.

Find out more about East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure's Gaelic Bilingual Bookbug sessions: www.ercultureandleisure.org

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