Awen Launches Baby Milestone Cards

Awen Cultural Trust has launched a new set of baby milestone cards designed to help families capture and celebrate their child’s early reading and library experiences as part of the National Year of Reading 2026.

The initiative has been developed as part of Awen’s ongoing partnership with Bridgend County Borough Council, working together to support families, encourage early literacy and ensure that free, welcoming library services are accessible to communities across the county borough.

The cards encourage parents, carers and grandparents to make special moments in a baby’s reading journey, helping to build positive, lifelong reading habits and instilling an appreciation of their local library from the earliest age.

The beautifully illustrated cards feature a series of milestones including becoming a library member, borrowing a first library book and attending a Bounce and Rhyme session for the first time. Each card includes space to record the date and recognise the achievement.

The cards are themes around some of Wales’s native wildlife, including Atlantic puffins and grey seals, red squirrels, bottlenose dolphins, Eurasian beavers and red kits, helping young families discover more about Welsh nature while creating lasting memories.

Families can collect the milestone cards from all Awen Libraries, free of charge, along with a special stamp card encouraging little ones to visit the library five times and celebrate their growing connection with books, stories and reading.

Richard Hughes, Chief Executive of Awen Cultural Trust, said:

“Research consistently shows that sharing books, songs and stories from birth supports language development, communication skills, confidence and a lifelong love of reading. Our libraries play a vital role in supporting children’s early development by helping families discover the joy of reading together. Our milestone cards are a fun and memorable way to celebrate a child’s first steps on their reading journey, whether that is joining the library, borrowing their first book or taking part in one of our popular early years’ activities.”

“The milestone cards, which have been funded in part by Welsh Government, also support the aims of the National Year of Reading 2026. This UK-wide initiative emphasises how the foundations for language, literacy and an enjoyment of reading are established from birth. We want to encourage families to make books, stories, songs and conversation part of everyday routines and help them recognise how those small, shared moments together are already contributing to early literacy.”