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. The famous country singer started the program as a tribute to her daddy, with a goal of inspiring children to love to read. The program’s premier present is the children’s classic, The Little Engine that Could, followed by a carefully selected book each month until the child’s fifth birthday – with no cost. The month the child turns five years old, he or she will receive Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! Each book is personalized with the child’s name to show that someone is thinking of them.
More than two million books are mailed each month to children who are enrolled. Originally books were distributed to kids in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Dolly grew up. But the program grew by leaps and bounds and by 2000 was a national effort. Now more than 218 million free books have been gifted to children all over the U.S., as well as in Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
The Purchase Area Early Childhood Council of Calloway, Graves, Marshall, and McCracken Counties contributed $26,000 as startup funding for Paducah’s program. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library partnered with the McCracken County Imagination Library, a non-profit organization established by the McCracken County Library, and primarily funded by grants and donations. Payments made from the McCracken County Imagination Library are matched 50-50 through the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Early learning, along with the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives.
Children under the age of 5 who are residents of McCracken County are eligible to enroll. An authorized adult should submit an official registration form in person or online at imaginationlibrary.com. Eight to ten weeks after registration, books will begin arriving each month until the child turns five or moves out of McCracken County.
The McCracken County Imagination Library is supported by foundations, corporations, grants, community members, and individual donors. You can donate online or in person to help foster the next generation of readers in McCracken County. Contact Library Director Justin Brasher at jbrasher@mclib.net for more information.
