Bringing the magic of a library into the home of a Laurens County child, thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library -- Laurens County First Steps has partnered with the Dollywood Foundation to providing one book a month to all children from birth to five living in the Laurens County School District 56 attendance area or enrolled in L56 schools.
Engaging, high-quality books are mailed directly to their home, at no cost to families. This expansion of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library county-wide ensures that all children, in Laurens County birth through 5, can enroll in this community-based, early literacy intervention program. Prior to this, only children in the Laurens School District 55 attendance zone could participate in this evidence-based program. Laurens County First Steps thanks LCSD55 for this service!
By simply reading a book to their children, parents/guardians can establish a rich home learning environment, build stronger family bonds and engage with the book in ways that drive language development and early literacy. Each book is free for the child to keep and has been chosen by a committee of experts to represent the diversity of the wider community. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library supports parents as their child’s first and most important teacher and takes a proven first step towards sparking curiosity, a love of reading and learning. The program equips a child with the early experiences and skills they will one day rely on to learn to read and write. This evidence-based program meets the criteria identified by research as fundamental to improving early literacy levels in communities and boosting children’s success in life.
People interested in learning more about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library should contact Toni Able, Executive Director of Laurens County First Steps or visit https://laurensfirststeps.org
To register a child please us the following link - https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability
About Laurens County First Steps
Laurens County First Steps is a local nonprofit that works collaboratively to ensure that all children start school ready to reach their highest potential. We achieve this goal by engaging families, caregivers, and community partners in high-quality evidence-based programs and services that improve early childhood development, from before birth through age five. We also serve as a connector and convener of all early childhood stakeholders in Laurens County.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
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 Community Partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month from birth to age five - at no cost to families. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.
The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.
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