In August 2019, Samantha Cleaver wrote 7 Surprising Facts About Reading that Prove It All Adds Up for weareteachers.com. The second fact on her list is the importance of children owning their own books. The basis for this claim came from a twenty-year study completed in 2010. The study found being raised in a home with books had as much impact as being raised in a home with parents who graduated from college.
Multi-talented singer, songwriter, and actress Dolly Parton didn’t need a formal study to tell her how important it is for children to own their own books. In 1995, as a tribute to her father who couldn’t read, Dolly launched her Imagination Library. The concept is simple. If you live in an area with a program, enroll your child, and, every month from birth to age five, they will receive a free “high quality, age-appropriate book.”1
Dolly’s Imagination Library began in her home county of Sevier, TN. Now, though, there are Imagination Library programs all around the world. In November alone, the program gifted over 1.7 million books to children. To date, the total number of books given away is almost 149 million.
So if you’re looking to make a difference this Christmas, consider giving to Dolly’s Imagination Library. Or even better, if you don’t have a local Imagination Library in your city, start one. Help all children own their own books, “inspiring them to Dream More, Learn More, Care More, and Be More.”1