Packed and Ready: Delivering the Joy of Storytime

There’s something special about the moment a box of brand-new books arrives in a classroom, and thanks to an incredible volunteer effort, that moment is about to be shared across Australia.

More than 1,000 books have been packed and are now on their way to over 525 schools across Australia, so students across the country can take part in the Australian Library and Information of Australia (ALIA) National Simultaneous Storytime 2026 held on Wednesday, 27 May at 12pm.

Through this initiative, Dymocks Children’s Charities is providing two copies of the featured title to each participating school, ensuring more children, particularly those with limited access to books can be part of this shared national reading experience.

We were also joined on the day by author Adam Jackson, who spent time with volunteers as they prepared the book bundles destined for schools across the country.

A huge thank you to the teams from Canva and Simon & Schuster for rolling up their sleeves to help make this initiative possible.

To mark the day, DCC Ambassador Nat Amoore will be joining us live at 12pm for a special reading, alongside thousands of classrooms across Australia. We can’t wait to share the moment.

As 27 May approaches, we’re looking forward to seeing students everywhere come together to celebrate the joy of storytelling.