Dolly
Parton’s Imagination Library Now Available To Preschoolers in Logan
County
United Way of Logan County utilizes
Illinois Prairie Community Foundation grant to expand program
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[January 10, 2023]
Thanks to a recent grant from the Women to Women Giving Circle
through the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation in the amount of
$7,000, along with generous support from many organizations and
individuals throughout Logan County throughout the past two years,
we are pleased to announce that the program is now available
throughout the county, including children in Lincoln, Illinois and
surrounding towns and villages.
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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. As of November 2022 over
195,000,000 books had been distributed through this program and over
2,200,000 children were registered for the program.
Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly started
her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home
county, and it has grown since then. 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.” When books are in the home, children and parents are more
likely to pick them up and read together.
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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 now
include all Logan County preschoolers. Find our list of generous
supporters at
https://www.
uwlogancountyil.org/dolly-parton-
imagination-library-supporters.
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This support has allowed growth
from 29 children receiving books in the summer of 2020, to over
200 at this time, with 71 children having graduated (reached the
age of 5) to date. Over 3,100 books have been distributed
throughout Logan County since the program’s inception.
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.
This is an ongoing program and will require additional support
to keep it going. 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, Illinois]
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