Free Book Every Month for Children

In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the children of her home county in east Tennessee. Dolly wanted to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. She wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.

So she decided to mail a brand new, age appropriate book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier County. With the arrival of every child’s first book, the classic The Little Engine That Could ™, every child could now experience the joy of finding their very own book in their mail box. These moments continue each month until the child turns 5—and in their very last month in the program they receive Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.

Needless to say the experience has been a smashing success. So much so that many other communities clamored to provide the Imagination Library to their children. Dolly thought long and hard about it and decided her Foundation should develop a way for other communities to participate. The Foundation asked a blue ribbon panel of experts to select just the right books and secured Penguin Group USA to be the exclusive publisher for the Imagination Library. Moreover a database was built to keep track of the information.

Consequently, in March of 2000 she stood at the podium of The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and revealed the plan for other communities to provide the Imagination Library to their children. And as only Dolly can say it, she wanted to “put her money where her mouth is – and with such a big mouth that’s a pretty large sum of money” and provide the books herself to the children of Branson, Missouri and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – communities where her businesses now operate. If other leaders in their communities were willing to do the same, well something big might just happen.

You know what? It did!!

Enroll your child in the Imagination Library and they’ll receive a free book every month until their fifth birthday. To find out if it is offered in your area, type in your Zip Code in the Find Your Affiliate box and pree the ‘Go’ button. If it does not pop up in your area, you can click the Affiliate banner on the left and it will tell you what towns in your state participate in the program.

IN UTAH THE FOLLOWING TOWNS ARE PARTICIPANTS"

Ogden, UT
American Dream Foundation
2955 Harrison Blvd., Suite 101 , Ogden
84403, UT
Phone: 801-399-2111
Fax: --
Email: karlie@sprynet.com
Contact: Rairigh,Karlie
Local champion: American Dream Foundation

Mt. Pleasant, Utah
Mt. Pleasant Public Library
24 East Main Street , Mount Pleasant
84647, UT
Phone: 435-462-3340
Fax: 435-462-9115
Email: sbusby@cut.net
Contact: Ledingham,Cindy
Local champion: Mt. Pleasant Public Library