Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Now Available To All Montana Children Up To Age Five
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June 22, 2023
Susan Gianforte joined Henry Malley Memorial Library Librarian Barb Mitchell to kick off Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, providing free books for Montana youth age 0-5. (Photo courtesy Kelda Page)
From The Imagination Library
First Lady Gianforte of Montana joins Dolly Parton to announce the Montana statewide expansion of her namesake Imagination Library book-gifting program. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books each month to children from birth to age five, free of charge through funding shared by state and local community partners. Children must be registered by a parent or guardian in order to receive the books. There is no charge to register or receive the books. Age-appropriate books are mailed directly to the homes of registered children each month.
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, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Program Partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.
Goals for Expansion
With this statewide expansion, books will be made available free to children ages birth to five years old in every county in Montana, regardless of the families' income. Montana's Imagination Library currently has 63 local program partners serving more than 13,000 of the state's nearly 61,000 eligible children under age 6, including the Henry A. Malley Memorial Library in Broadus.
The program's unique funding structure centers on local community partnerships and partnership from the Treasure State Foundation, a nonprofit organization, founded in 2021 by First Lady Susan Gianforte to ensure future First Spouses in Montana can promote the public good with their causes. The Treasure State Foundation is assisting local programs with funding.
To register a child, please visit imaginationlibrary.com, or call the library at 436-2812.
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