Alton, Mo. – Did you know that the libraries in Oregon County, Missouri, are teaming up with Dolly Parton to give each child through age five their own books? Once registered, each child will receive their own book each month until the age of five. This imagination library was created to inspire a love of reading. There is no cost for either the books or the postage.
What Is This?
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. Simply register the child(ren), and each month, they will receive free of charge a book to own. By owning a book, they are more likely to read it and develop a love of reading.
By mailing high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, Dolly wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Additionally, she could ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income. Since its launch, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has set and surpassed many goals and milestones. National replication, which started in 2000, allowed more and more communities to adopt the program.
The first book order in 1995 totaled just over 1,700. Today, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends more than one million books per month to children around the world inspiring them to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.
Locally
Oregon County libraries have teamed up with the Imagination Library. Alton, Thayer, and Thomasville Libraries are all participating in this effort to get books into the hands of children.
