200th child registers for the RC Whitesburg affiliate of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library

The Imagination Library registered its 200^th child on Thursday, August 15^th.  One year old Braydon Short  is the son of Caleb and Erica Short and resides in the city of Whitesburg.  He received a free book  at the time of registration. The Imagination Library is an early childhood literacy program started by country music singer Dolly Parton.  The program provides children with a free book each month until they reach their fifth birthday, regardless of family income.  The Imagination Library is an opportunity for children to have books in the home where they can learn to recognize letters, numbers, colors, objects and build a good vocabulary in preparation for kindergarten.  Reading aloud to children exposes them to words they may not encounter in everyday language and gets them excited about learning.

Rotarians Barbara Ison and Margaret Hammonds attended Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Homecomin’ 2013 at the Music Road Hotel Conference Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on June 11-14^th  and had an opportunity to talk with David Dotson, President of the Dollywood Foundation.  The theme of the conference “Imagine More” showcased two full days of presenters sharing their personal stories of success with the Imagination Library. During the conference, participants had the opportunity to discuss ideas with other program leaders and learn how other states have implemented the Imagination Library and raised funds to support the program. Toni Buzzeo, Author of “One Cool Friend” was on hand to sign her book which has been made into a production now playing at Dollywood Theme Park. The highlight of the conference was a personal appearance by Dolly Parton. Over two hundred individuals from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada attended the conference.  

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library started in Sevierville, Tennessee and because of its popularity, it was made available to any community that was willing to partner with Dolly to support it locally.  Since the initial program began, nearly 40,000,000 books have been mailed to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  Currently over 1600 local communities provide the Imagination Library to children every month.  Already statistics and independent reports have shown Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library drastically improves early childhood literacy.  The Rotary Club of Whitesburg sponsors the Imagination Library in Letcher County.  The program is coordinated by Rotarians Barbara Ison and Margaret Hammonds.

 

Please contact Margaret Hammonds at 633-8200 or Barbara Ison at 634-2106 for more information about the Imagination Library program in Letcher County.