Children in Carbon County now have access to free, high-quality books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, thanks to the Carbon County Community Foundation and St. Luke’s University Health Network – Carbon Campuses.
About the Imagination Library
The Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, carefully curated and age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. Parents of children under the age of five who reside in Carbon County or Coaldale can register for the program by visiting the Registration Page at Carbon County Community Foundation’s website. Books will automatically be mailed each month to the child’s home, making it a fun reading package that kids can look forward to regularly.
Why Register?
Studies show that books in the home support the child’s academic, social, and emotional development. Children develop a special bond with their parents and caregivers by reading together. Also, reading to children early in life better prepares them for school. Participating in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library increases the time parents and caregivers spend reading to their children each week. In addition, to the reading benefits, it’s free!
This program is only available to children age five and under, residing in Carbon County or Coaldale
Support the program for future generations!
The Carbon County Community Foundation secured funding to support the first two years of the program and needs your support to continue providing this valuable resource for the region.
Don’t Miss Out!
Please bookmark this page for future reference and updates on the program! Also, consider visiting the registration page for more information regarding the program.
“We are thrilled to be able to launch Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Carbon County so kids in our region can get excited about reading from a young age,” said Sharon Alexander, President of the Carbon County Community Foundation. “We have been supporting literacy programs with St. Luke’s for a couple years now and this is a wonderful expansion of that effort allowing us to reach even more children.”
The Carbon County Community Foundation currently supports the Reach Out & Read and Brush, Book, and Bed at St. Luke’s, programs that encourage the importance of reading during physician’s regular wellness visits with young patients. Through these programs, St. Luke’s has provided literacy support to more than 830 children since January, 2019 – even despite the COVID-19 pandemic which required practices to close for a period of time.
“Literacy is such an important piece of overall health and we are thrilled that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will be available to the preschool children of Carbon County. This program is the perfect compliment to the Reach Out and Read and Brush, Book, and Bed initiatives,” said Kerri Quick, Community Health Liaison Manager for St. Luke’s. “These children will not only be getting books that will address developmental milestones, create opportunities for family routines and bonding, and reinforce the importance of dental hygiene, but also allow them to read for enjoyment and develop a love for reading that will likely lead to a healthier generation.”
Imagination Library’s Impact
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation has mailed well over 100 million free books in Australia, Canada, The Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, and United States. The Imagination Library mails more than 1.4 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to registered children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring them to dream. The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
For more information, please visit the Imagination Library website.
