Two Recent Grants Support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Logan County

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[January 10, 2022]   The Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Logan County is the recent recipient of two grants that will support and help to grow the program in Logan County.

A grant in the amount of $2,500 has been awarded by the local International Paper Manufacturing Facility and the International Paper Foundation to support the program in Logan County. The International Paper Foundation is one of the ways International Paper strives to reach its vision to be among the most successful, sustainable and responsible companies in the world. Started in 1952, the foundation annually provides millions in grants to 501(c) (3) nonprofit organizations to address critical needs in the communities where its employees live and work. Funding priority is given to programs related to its signature causes: education, hunger, health and wellness, disaster relief, and initiatives that improve the planet. For more information, visit ipgiving.com.

Nichole Folkman, District Librarian for Hartsburg-Emden CUSD #21 has also granted the Imagination Library $1,500 of her Voya Unsung Heroes Award. Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), is a leading provider of retirement plans for educators. Through the Voya Unsung Heroes program, Voya awards grants to 50 K-12 educators across the country each year to support their innovative and creative teaching ideas. Voya also selects three top winners to receive additional funds, and Nichole was selected as one of the top winners in 2020. In its 20-plus years, the program has awarded more than $5 million in grants to educators across the United States. Nichole received this award as recognition for her innovative teaching idea, "Stags Read,” which focuses on combining community and school resources to change access to books. The project increases community reading and literacy by providing books to pre-school children, through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library; school children, through summer reading; adults, through Free Little Libraries; and book swaps at schools.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a program that mails free books each month to registered children from birth to age five in participating communities within the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Republic of Ireland.

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Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program spans four countries and mails over 1 million free books each month to children around the world. The purpose of this program is to provide books in the home to encourage a love of books, reading and learning and positively affect school readiness. According to the National Commission on Reading, “The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school.”

Early in 2020, The United Way of Logan County and the Hartsburg-Emden School District partnered to bring The Imagination Library to Hartsburg-Emden children. Since that time, community businesses and individuals from all over Logan County have supported the program, allowing its growth to Beason, Broadwell, Chestnut, Cornland, Elkhart, Latham, Middletown, Mt. Pulaski and New Holland.. Find our list of generous supporters at https://www.uwlogan
countyil.org/dolly-parton-imagination-library-supporters.  This support has allowed growth from 29 children receiving books last summer, to 108 at this time with 32 having graduated (reached the age of 5).

Parents that would like to register their preschoolers (birth up to age 5) that live in any of the communities listed above may register them online at https://
tinyurl.com/yaja3k4u  or contact the United Way of Logan County at 217-735-4499 or uwloganil@comcast.net.

Anyone that would like to sponsor a Logan County child for a year at $25, or multiple children, please donate at https://www.uwlogancountyil.org/
civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=
1&id=21  . Checks may also be mailed to United Way of Logan County P.O. Box 684 Lincoln IL 62656. All donations to this program will be designated to this program and will not affect the United Way of Logan County’s other grant programs to local non-profit agencies.

[Patti Becker
Administrative Director
The United Way of Logan County]
 

 

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