SALINE COUNTY LIBRARY Dolly's Imagination Library to spur literacy

TRI-LAKES AREA — To promote literacy in Saline County, organizers of a new program plan to ship a free book to the doorsteps of kids under 5 years old every month.

The idea is "to put books in the kids' hands," said Derek Phillips, co-coordinator of the program.

Dolly's Imagination Library, which was started by singer/songwriter Dolly Parton, is the program that leaders in Saline County want to adopt. The project specificallytargets kids under the age of 5 and would deliver a new, age-appropriate book each month to every child registered in the program.

Coordinators are hoping to begin the program in early 2010, Phillips said.

The project was initially intended for the Bryant area, but the Saline County Library stepped in to help expand the program to children countywide, said Phillips, who is also the recreation superintendent for the Bryant Parks and Recreation Department.

"We figured the more kids thebetter," he said.

By the time a child who is enrolled in this program starts kindergarten, he or she could potentially have a library with 60 books.

In ot her communities, t he Imagination Library has been effective in improving young children's readiness to start school, said Patti Bokony, a co-coordinator of the program.

The percentage of students who have scored below proficient on literacy exams in Benton and Bryant counties has increased inrecent years, according to statistics provided by the National Office for Research on Measurement and Evaluations Systems.

Research also suggests that verbal interaction with young children stimulates brain growth, and reading aloud to children is one of the most important activities for building literacy skills, Bokony said.

After a few years with the program in full swing, Bokony said the test scores in literacy should improve, showing that the Imagi-nation Library was worth the investment.

Fundraising efforts for the program are under way. By January, the group wants to raise $3,500 to get the program rolling, Phillips said.

"We believe this thing will take off," he said.

Funding for the program will come from corporate sponsorships, private donations, civic organizations and grants, he said.

Because of its nonprofit status, the Bryant Boys and Girls Club will house the Imagination Library's operation, but volunteers and other groups are working on the project, such as the Saline County Library and both the Benton and Bryant School Districts, Phillips said.

The process for starting this program started last winter when Phillips was brainstorming ideas for new youth programs with a group of volunteers in the Bryant area. The group wanted to pursue a project that could be a permanent fixture in the community, Phillips said.

That's when Bokony suggested Dolly's Imagination Library. She had heard of the Imagination Library throughher work in early childhood education, she said. The work to implement the program began from there.

Organizers in Saline County will be in charge of securing funding for the program, getting children enrolled and maintaining the system. From there, the Dollywood Foundation will ensure the books are sent to each home.

Dolly Parton started the literacy program in 1996 in east Tennessee where she grew up.

Now, more than 700 communities are enrolled in Dolly's Imagination Library, according to the Web site. Penguin Group (USA) is partnered with the Imagination Library and is the exclusive supplier of the books.

Tri-Lakes, Pages 135, 136 on 09/20/2009