Smart Start Receives Funding to Expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Across NC
$10 million provided to deliver books right into the hands of North Carolina’s youngest children
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Heather Strickland – hstrickland@smartstart.org, 919-821-9564
Spruce Pine, NC — Smart Start and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are working together to bring books to North Carolina’s youngest children through funding provided by the North Carolina General Assembly.
During the 2017 legislative session, North Carolina state lawmakers included $3.5 in the first year of the budget and $7 million in the second year for the Smart Start network to offer free books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to children across the state. Imagination Library is a program created to foster a love of reading among children aged birth to five through the gift of a specially selected book delivered right to their home each month.
“I’m thrilled that my Imagination Library is going to be offered to so many children in North Carolina” stated Dolly Parton, the founder of Imagination Library. “Working together we can help children dream more, learn more, care more, and be more.”
“Our state leaders clearly understand how important an early love of reading is for each child’s success in school and later in life,” stated Cindy Watkins, the President of the North Carolina Partnership for Children that oversees the Smart Start network, “Smart Start works in every community to ensure young children have a strong foundation for starting kindergarten – now we can offer this important literacy program to that critical work.”
Senator Ralph Hise and Representatives Josh Dobson and Justin Burr joined Smart Start and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library representatives to kick off the statewide effort that will begin in 98 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Because the program is offered by zip code, the initial launch will cover 85 percent of NC zip codes expanding to cover every county by the second year.
To find out more about Smart Start and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library partnership, and to check availability and register a child, visit http://www.smartstart.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library/
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For more information, please visit http://www.smartstart.org/about-smart-start/
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program for children from birth to age five. The mission of the program is to foster a love of reading in preschool children and ensure that every child born has books, regardless of their family’s income.
Smart Start is a network of 75 nonprofit local partnerships that serve all 100 North Carolina counties. This network is led by The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. (NCPC) that ensures fiscal and programmatic accountability, and coordinates the statewide network to create better outcomes for children and families.
