Young readers invited to join Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
TEXARKANA — The United Way of Greater Texarkana is inviting Miller County parents to enroll their children in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program.
The DPIL provides a book a month to newborns all the way up to 4-year-olds.
Miller County’s enrollment numbers in the program are down, and UWGT is making a push for area parents to join.
United Way raises funds to cover the cost of each child’s enrollment fee.
UWGT CEO Mark Bledsoe said anyone in Miller and Bowie counties can register for the program, especially if they have children 3 and younger. There are no economic requirements, Bledsoe said.
“Cities that have used this program over an extended period of time have seen that the child enrolling in kindergarten, their scores are much higher than those who have not been through a similar program,” he said. “This program really encourages parents to read to their children, and they develop that love for a book at an early age.”
Through the program, a book is delivered by mail each month from the day the child is born until his or her fifth birthday or until the child moves out of the coverage area.
Eight to 10 weeks after a registration form has been received, books begin arriving at the child’s home. Each book is selected by a committee composed of parents, teachers, child development specialists, librarians, publishers and others specializing in early childhood literacy.
Two books per year are bilingual, and there are also books available in braille.
Trice Elementary has been raising money for the program for three years by selling book markers. Wadley Regional Medical Center hands out registration cards to new parents.
“We really have a need to try to improve our numbers in this region,” Bledsoe said.
Famed actress, singer and entrepreneur Dolly Parton launched the program in 1995. First, books were distributed only to children living in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Parton grew up. However, the program quickly grew, so much so that in 2000, a national replication effort was underway.
By 2003, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library had mailed 1 million books.
Bledsoe said through the program, over a million books go out each month throughout the United States.