What is it and who is eligible?
The Ionia County Intermediate School District in collaboration with the Belding Areas Schools, Ionia Public Schools, Lakewood Public Schools, Palo Community Schools, Portland Public Schools, Saranac Community Schools and other generous community partners are pleased to announce the establishment of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Ionia County. This is a free literacy program for children birth to age five. It is a GIFT from the community back to its young children. For just $27.00 per year, a child will receive a high quality, hard-cover book once a month delivered right to their home for an entire year! All children who live within the Ionia County Intermediate School District (i.e. anyone of the above mentioned school districts) who have not turned five years of age are eligible.
Why is it named after Dolly Parton?
The program was originally started by Dolly Parton in her home state of Tennessee. Literacy was an issue for Dolly’s family and neighbors so she created the foundation to give back to her home community. Now she is making the program available to communities all across the United States through her foundation. Ionia ISD is one of a handful of communities in the state of Michigan to offer the program. It will require the entire community’s support to make it a priority to donate to the program year after year.
What is so important about having books in the home?
According to Steven Bialostok in his book Raising Readers, the single most important factor influencing children’s literacy (speaking, reading, and writing) is the amount of time they are read to. He outlines nine stages a child goes through to become an independent reader. The first six: Learning to love books, Enjoying the meaning of books, Learning how books work, Discovering that print has meaning, Memorizing books and Rehearsing books all happen before a child goes to school assuming they have access to books in the home. Research also shows that children who are read to at young ages outperform their peers who were not read to. This effect lasts throughout their school years and into adulthood.
What is the process for enrolling my child?
Enrollment forms are located in local schools, libraries, community organizations and online by clicking the link below. Once the form is complete and mailed back to the Ionia ISD, the child’s information will be entered into the Dolly Parton Imagination Library database. On the 10th of every month the names are pulled by the Dolly Parton Foundation and the books are mailed from Tennessee. It takes approximately 6-8 weeks, for the first book to arrive at the child’s home! The month the child turns five, they will receive their last book. If a child were to participate from birth, they would have a complete home library of 60 books by the time they turned five at a very low cost of only $135.00.
How much money does this cost?
The program costs approximately $27.00 per year to provide a child a book a month for an entire year. Overall, it will take approximately $80,000 annually for every age eligible child to participate in the program. As of June of 2007 we have raised $37,000 to support the project. Fund-raising will be a continual need for the program. This program is a great value for any parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle. If you would like to enroll a child, please consider making the tax-deductible donation of $27.00. Please make a check payable to Ionia County ISD-DPIL fund and mail it to: Ionia ISD, 2191 Harwood Rd., Ionia, MI 48846. Make sure you provide your name and address as all donations are tax-deductible! If you are unable to make a contribution, please do not let that stop you from enrolling your child.
