
Bilingual Beginnings: Empowering Communities to Run Bilingual Storytime
Bilingual Beginnings is a Multilingual Australia initiative designed to support communities in running successful bilingual storytime and rhymetime sessions. This project focuses on developing a Bilingual Storytime Guideline to help families, community schools, and libraries organise and deliver these sessions in more languages, promoting cultural and linguistic heritage across Western Australia.
Project Aims
-
Equip families, community schools, and libraries with practical resources to organise and sustain bilingual storytime sessions.
-
Address challenges such as resource gaps, access to spaces, and engagement strategies for multilingual storytelling.
-
Foster connections within communities, encouraging collaboration to support bilingual learning opportunities.
-
Promote the preservation of languages and cultural traditions through accessible and engaging activities.
Outcomes
By the end of the project, Multilingual Australia will deliver:
-
A Bilingual Storytime Guideline to assist individuals and organisations in running their own bilingual storytime and rhymetime sessions.
-
Insights into the needs and challenges faced by families, schools, and libraries through extensive community consultation.
Funding Partners
This project is proudly funded by the State Government, in collaboration with the State Library of Western Australia and the Better Beginnings Program. Their support enables us to create meaningful resources for communities across WA.

Project Updates
We’re excited to share that the Bilingual Beginnings surveys are now live!
This is your opportunity to contribute to the development of the Bilingual Storytime Guideline, a resource designed to support libraries, community schools, and families in organising bilingual storytime and rhymetime sessions.
📅 Survey Timeline: Open now and running through the entire month of February 2025.
Your input is invaluable, so please take a moment to complete a survey or share it with your networks. Together, we can empower communities to preserve and celebrate their cultural and linguistic heritage.

Families
Help us understand your needs and experiences with bilingual storytime. Share your insights to ensure the Bilingual Storytime Guideline reflects what matters most to your family.

Libraries
Identify your library's available spaces, resources, and opportunities to support bilingual storytime sessions. Your input will help us design tools tailored to library needs.

Community Schools
Tell us about the challenges and resources needed to organise bilingual storytime sessions. Share your expertise to help us create practical solutions for schools.