Kentucky First Lady Britainy Beshear presented a $100,000 check from The Kentucky Association of Health Plans. Representatives from the Imagination Library, The Kentucky Association of Health Plans, and dozens of kids who will benefit from the program were also on hand to celebrate.
“That check that we got to help give today, makes sure that all those families in Kentucky continue to have that privilege of getting that free book from Dolly Parton,” Beshear said.
Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library thirty years ago in honor of her father, who never learned to read. Earlier this year, she visited Kentucky to celebrate the program's expansion to all of the state’s 120 counties.
“We give books to children; from the time they’re born, they get a book once a month until they start kindergarten. And of course, that way they get the little book in the mail with their own little name on it. And they love that!” Parton said, “When they get big enough to go to the mailbox or when they get big enough to say ‘mamma read me this’ or ‘Uncle Joe read me this’ it’s really a great way to teach children when they are very young to learn to love books and to learn to read.”
Research from the World Literacy Foundation shows that students who lack proficient reading skills by the fourth grade are at a higher risk of struggling academically, and low literacy rates are linked to poverty and crime. They say investing in early childhood literacy programs will "bring back greater returns not only economically, but also returns in health and social outcomes."
Local libraries provide funding for the Imagination Library, so it's free for families to start at-home book collections.