From staff reports
Dolly Parton is reportedly a generous soul, and a number of children living in Manistee and Mason counties are recipients of her giving spirit.
Recently in the news for donating $1 million toward a COVID-19 vaccine, the country singer and songwriter has flown a bit under the radar with another project.
It began as an early childhood literacy program in 1995, in the township where she was raised. Today, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails free, high-quality children’s books each month to little ones from the time they’re born until age 5, so long as they live in the U.S., Canada, Australia, The Republic of Ireland and the U.K.
Parton’s vision, according to a statement on imaginationlibrary.com, is to spark a lifelong love of reading and inspire children to dream.
Through a partnership with FiveCAP, a community action agency with offices in Newaygo, Baldwin, Scottville and Manistee, Parton’s program has touched the lives so far of 65 children, ages 0-5, living in Manistee County and 90 preschoolers in Mason County – all of whom received free books. So far in Michigan, 63,547 children received free books.
Children ages 0-5 must be registered with the program. No additional criteria are required to begin receiving a free book in the mail each month.
Citizens, businesses, school districts and other organizations in the above-mentioned countries who wish to start a book-giving program in their communities need only to partner with a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
According to statements on its website, the program has mailed more than 147 million children’s books from 1995 through October 2020. One book is donated every 1.8 seconds.
Research into the reading program’s impact suggests “positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics,” according to a press release from the Dolly Parton Foundation.
During the nationwide lockdown earlier this year, Parton released a video series, “Good Night with Dolly” featuring the singer-songwriter snuggled in bed for weekly readings of books from the program.
Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, visit imaginationlibrary.com.
