The literacy needs of all of Cornwall's children requiring special care have been boosted with a £50,000 grant.

Foster A Book (FAB), a project pioneered by Cornwall's Local Education Authority, library service and Social Services Department to improve access to books for the county's children requiring care, was awarded £50,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Coun Doris Ansari (Lib-Dem, Truro), Cornwall County Council's cabinet member responsible for education services, said: "The aim of the FAB project is to provide greater access to a wide range of books and reading materials for the 542 'looked-after' children and young people in Cornwall, and to provide them with opportunities to read for pleasure, raise their educational attainments and improve their learning and life chances.

"We are delighted that we have been awarded £50,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation which will enable us to dramatically improve our services for this group of children.

"The grant was awarded under the foundation's Right to Read scheme, which aims to encourage reading among socially-excluded groups. The two-year project will include provision for every looked-after child to have a magazine subscription or book of their own, and it will establish mini libraries, stocked with a selection of new fiction, non-fiction, reference books, story tapes and educational software in the county's three residential centres.

The library service will provide collections of exchangeable boxes of books to cater for the individual needs of the current residential centre population. It will also provide GCSE revision guides for Year 11 pupils, ensure that every looked-after child has a library card and inform foster carers of special events at libraries via the foster carers' monthly information pack.

Chris Ramsey, assistant director of education, arts and libraries, said: "Research shows that children who engage with and enjoy books from an early age significantly increase their educational attainment and life chances.

"This Right to Read bid has the strong backing of all the partners, together with a long-term commitment to promoting the benefits of the Right to Read philosophy in giving Cornwall's looked-after children a better start in life.

"Other aims of the FAB project are for the library service to provide specially presented and selected collections, on an extended loan basis, for the Foster Carer Loan Scheme to provide books, cassettes and educational software depending on the child's age, gender, interests and ability.

Looked-after children will also be able to develop education websites and to contribute to online book reviews. The project will also train foster carers and residential centre workers on how to help with studying and homework. And it hopes to provide special library introductory days for looked-after children, carers and families, including approval collections from book sellers and publishers.

The grant will help the team to appoint a leader to help deliver the aims of the project, build links with community partnerships and develop additional projects to engage and sustain the interest of the children in becoming lifelong readers.

The Cornwall bid was developed by Jane Stephens, education officer for looked-after children; Karen Mitchell, Social Services planning and development officer; Linda Webster, library officer for young people, and Maureen Twose and Becky Rowland, community liaison officers for Cornwall Library Service.