Imagination Library helping children
The Imagination Library, a preschool literacy program for children from birth to age five, has found much success in the community.
The Imagination Library was first started by Dolly Parton in 1996 in Sevier County, Tenn., where Parton grew up.
Parton wanted to find a way to give back to the community, so she decided to set up a program where children could receive one book per month from the time they were born until they reached the age of five.
The program was so successful that many other counties – and now, even other countries – wanted to participate, so Parton turned over the administration of the program to the Dollywood Foundation.
Communities who want to participate in the Imagination Library must make the program accessible to all preschool children in the area who want to participate.
The community must then come up with funds for the books and the mailing, they must promote the program and register the children.
The Dollywood Foundation will then manage the system and make sure the books get delivered to the homes.
The Franklin County division of the Imagination Library, which has operated since August of 2006, is managed by Community Education in Belgreen, and TRACKS outreach educator Carla Hutto said she has personally seen how the program has helped children in the county.
“Any child in the area who is registered gets a book through the mail once per month absolutely free,” Hutto said. “The purpose of the program is to strengthen the literacy of our children and to also strengthen families throughout the area.
“When parents are reading to their children, it builds strong bonds, and I can’t count the number of parents and children who have said how much they have enjoyed the program.”
Hutto said any child in the county is eligible to be part of the program and parents who are interested will be asked to take part in an hour-long literacy workshop that Hutto teaches at the Community Education Center.
“This workshop is very simple and it’s just a presentation so parents will understand the importance of literacy,” Hutto said. “I really encourage parents to get their children involved in this program because it’s so much fun for them to receive a book in the mail each month and to start building a library of their very own.”
Hutto said each book is age appropriate and is something that is both fun to read as well as educational.
“If a family has two or three children of different ages, each child will receive a different book,” she said.
This program is free to the participants, but Hutto said the money to fund it has to come from somewhere.
“We’ve been blessed to receive grants from the Resource, Conservation and Development Council of Northwest Alabama, and that money usually supplies half the cost of the program,” Hutto said.
“However, we still need donations, so anyone in the community who would like to give to this worthy program, please contact me. It only takes $30 per year to supply books for one child.
“If the people of Franklin County want to keep this program, they’ll have to get behind it and support it.”
Anyone who would like more information about the program or who would like to donate can contact Carla Hutto at 256-331-0005.
