Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

While Dolly Parton may best be known for making people smile with her music, she has also been brightening the lives of children with books for decades. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. 

As of 2023, Imagination Library has placed 27,889,777 in the hands of kids across the country. Partnership for Children of the Foothills is a proud participant in this extraordinary program which has touched the lives of many families in the three-county area they serve.

One such benefactor of the program is Blake Hite from Old Fort, North Carolina, who recently graduated from the program. He enjoyed receiving his books so much that he sat down and wrote Dolly a personal note to thank her for her generosity. He had this to say: “Dear Dolly, Thank you for the books. I loved the pictures.” He also took the time to draw a lovely picture of himself with Dolly. 

If you have a child aged five or younger and live in Polk, McDowell or Rutherford County, The Partnership for Children of the Foothills would love to help your family become a part of this amazing program. You can register online at www.PFCFoothills.org/Dolly or by stopping in the office located at 338 Withrow Road in Forest City.

The Partnership for Children of the Foothills strives to continue growing this program as it sees the tremendous positive impact it has made upon the communities it serves. At the end of the day, Dolly says it best: “You can never get enough books into the hands of children.” 

After launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program grew quickly. The first books were only distributed to children living in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Dolly grew up. It became such a success that in 2000, a national replication effort was launched. Today, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has given away 150 million books nationally and internationally. For more information, visit: https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Partnership for Children of the Foothills provides programs for children ages 0-5 and their families in the areas of childcare, education and family support. The Partnership builds and sustains relationships with community agencies and service providers, offering creative and unique programs for preschool children and their families, licensed childcare centers and family childcare. For more information, visit PFCFoothills.org.

 

Submitted by Desiree Magnant