Janice McIntyre
City Editor
Union County’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library will reach a milestone in September – six years in the program and the 60,000th book will be mailed to a Union County child.
The local program, coordinated through the United Way of Union County, provides free age-appropriate books on a monthly basis to children from birth to 5 years old.
“Thanks to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the United Way of Union County, children under the age of 5 years can now have access to their own library where a book is mailed to each enrolled child every month. There are currently more than 1,200 children enrolled in the program,” said Alexis Alexander, executive director of the United Way of Union County and coordinator of the local book program.
More than 1,000 children have already graduated from the program, she said.
“I’ve been reading to Landon (Lowery) since he was born,” said his mother, Tiffany Lowery.
Landon just turned 5 years old and received his final book through the mail.
“He is now well beyond his grade level in reading,” she said. “I think this program is
amazing. Promoting literacy is something I am very passionate about. They have found a way to get books in the hands of children who otherwise might not have that chance. … Landon loves to read and is always excited about new books and his own mail.”
Lowery said she would “most definitely” recommend enrolling a child in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program. “I always try to recommend it to friends/family who are expecting,” she said, noting that books are “age-appropriate and many have award winning titles.”
It costs about $2,500 per month to fund the program, Alexander said. The United Way pays for the books and mailing costs, promotes the program, registers children and enters participants’ names in a database. The Dollywood Foundation manages the system and provides the books to be mailed to homes. For the past few years, the United Way and volunteer committees have worked to raise funds to continue the program through a Power of the Purse event.
Parents and guardians can sign up their children for the program and, eight to 10 weeks after the registration form has been received, books will begin arriving at the child’s home. Parents can sign up online at imaginationlibrary.com, or by contacting the local United Way, 200 N. Jefferson, Suite 103, in El Dorado.
“My two nephews get so excited to receive new books,” said Ashlee Hill, a family service advocate for the Arkansas Better Chance program through Families and Children Together, Inc. “I love this program and helping families get their children signed up for it.”
Hill said her nephews, Wyatt and Nathan Huckabee, sons of Mindi and Joe Huckabee, have a favorite book so far, “Not Your Typical Dragon,” by Dan Bar-El. “I too fell in love with this book after I read it to them the very first time. It is such a wonderful program and promotes family literacy, reading and parent involvement! I am so thankful to have this program as a part of our community.”
Three-year-old Willow Strickland has been receiving books since she was 1 year old. Her mother, Alexis Miller, said Willow loves getting her own mail and loves her books. In one of her favorite books, “Maple,” the main character, gets a little sister named “Willow,” and her mother said she loves reading her name in the book. Alexis is expecting her second child in October, a boy, and said she will definitely put his name on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program list.
“Willow’s bookshelf is almost full,” she said.
Kenya Acker has three children receiving books through the program – Keelyn, 5, Zaylen, 4 and Landon, 3. She said all three boys love receiving their books and, “They tell me when they want to read.”
In 1995, Dolly Parton launched the library with a vision to foster a love of reading among her Tennessee county’s preschool children and their families by providing a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income, according to the Imagination Library website.
The library project became so popular that in the year 2000, Parton announced she would make the program available to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Since the initial program launch in the United States, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gone from just a few dozen books to more than 60 million books mailed to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
For more information or to donate to the local program, contact Alexander at the United Way office at 870-862-4903 or [email protected].