Best Buy General Manager Therisa Keeton (left) presents UWMC board member Kathy Silvernale and Executive Director Paul Thompson with a check for $10,000 to be used for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

United Way of McLeod County Board President Jennifer Grimsley announced today that the    organization  has launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This means every child who lives in McLeod County and was born in 2009 is currently eligible to receive an age-appropriate hard back book in the mail each month. The books are a gift from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the United Way of McLeod County. The program is absolutely free to the newborns and parents.

 “After talking about this wonderful program for the last year, we are thrilled to announce that we are hosting it in McLeod County,” said Grimsley. “Countless studies and common sense tells us that if you want to make sure children are ready to learn in school, one of the best guarantees is to read to them when they’re young.”

 “As host of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the United Way of McLeod County determined at this time to begin enrollment of children born only in 2009 and then expand to those born in 2010, 2011 and so on,” said Executive Director Paul Thompson. “Imagination Library is designed to eventually enroll every child in McLeod County ages birth to five regardless of socio-economic status. We believe by getting this program launched with newborns this fall, we are on the right track for having all children 0-5 enrolled by 2013.” 

Children enrolled in the program will get 12 books a year delivered to their homes for free. The first book in the Imagination Library is “The Little Engine That Could.” The program aims to select books that are age-appropriate and titles that will encourage parents to read to their kids. The cost to the United Way is roughly $29 a year per child, which equates to $2.33 a book. Newborns enrolled this fall will have a personal library of 60 books when they exit the program at age five.

“The Imagination Library is not a project we took on to replace any of the programs and services provided by our outstanding partner agencies, but rather fills an important need in our county,” said Grimsley. “We will continue to do our annual fall campaign to provide funding for our partners, but we will also give donors the opportunity to help us with this vital program. Thanks to the generous gift of $10,000 that we received recently from the Best Buy Children’s Foundation, we were able to set the wheels in motion.”

“Best Buy and its employees are excited to partner with the United Way of McLeod County and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to get this program off the ground in this region,” said Hutchinson Store General Manager Therisa Keeton. “As an organization we believe it is vital to give back to the community, and when we were approached with the details of this program, we could not wait to get on board. We think the Imagination Library is truly going to help prepare children in the region for kindergarten and life.”

Studies done for the Dollywood Foundation regarding this program have shown that investing in early childhood education yields more productive older students, better citizens and employees. Better-educated children generally stay out of crime, and need fewer out-of-home placements and less counseling. However, not enough kids get that important education in their early years. A high percentage of kindergartners are coming to school at risk for failure. Children whose parents read to them become improved readers and do better in school.

Children who have been read to regularly in their first five years have shown a superior vocabulary to those that have not had the same exposure entering kindergarten. Educators have emphasized the fact that reading with a preschool child is the single most important activity to prepare them for school. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library was created to guarantee access to books and to inspire parents to read to their children as much as possible.

United Way will begin working immediately with schools, libraries, public health nurses, day cares, etc., to start the enrollment process for children born January 1, 2009 and later. Those children will stay enrolled in the program as subsequent newborns are added each year going forward.

The Dolly Parton Foundation underwrites the national administrative costs- so that expenses to local sponsors such as the UWMC stay minimal. For more information on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library please visit www.imaginationlibrary.com.

 While the UWMC is hosting the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in McLeod County, the program is driven by donations from individuals, small businesses and corporations. Donations for this specific initiative can be sent to the United Way of McLeod County, 218 Main Street South, Suite 124, PO Box 504, Hutchinson, MN 55350. Please denote Imagination Library on the memo line.