First Lady Promotes Imagination Library in Madison, Crockett Counties
NASHVILLE – Tennessee First Lady Crissy Haslam attended receptions in Madison and Crockett counties yesterday to promote the counties’ Imagination Library affiliate offices.
Families can enroll their children ages 0-5 in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and receive one high-quality, age-appropriate book delivered to their home each month.
“Early literacy is the foundation for academic success, and the Imagination Library is one of the best ways to get books in the hands of kids,” Haslam said. “If children in Tennessee enter school with the reading skills they need for success, they are much more likely to have brighter academic futures and greater opportunities in life.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was created in 1996 by Parton as a gift to the children in her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn. and was later expanded to the entire state with the creation of the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation.
Through this partnership, the cost for books is split evenly between a non-profit sponsoring organization in every Tennessee county and a state budgetary allocation administered by the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation.
“Funding for the Imagination Library program is a 50/50 match between each local Imagination Library affiliate and the state, so it is incredibly important to raise funds at the local level,” Haslam said. “These are tough economic times for businesses and families, but this is an important program."
Currently, fifty-three percent of all Tennessee children from birth to age five are registered in the Imagination Library and receive free books in the mail every month. More than 213,000 Tennessee five-year-olds have already “graduated” from the program. The statewide program has helped deliver more than 13 million books to Tennessee children since the creation of the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation in 2004.
For more information or to register for Imagination Library, please visit www.governorsfoundation.org.