Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

And as many of you know, this week we lost a national treasure, which everybody considered her an aunt, Dolly Parton. And she has a pretty cool program that was unbeknownst to me, the Imagination Library, and we have a branch of it here, right in Detroit at Wayne State University, or went in. So now I am joined by Stephanie, who is intertwined with this program. So Stephanie, how are you? I'm very good. How are you? I'm doing pretty good. So tell us a little bit about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and what it entails, and especially when it comes to the little ones. Yeah, so it's a program that provides free books to children from birth until they turn five and they get a book mailed to their home every month. It's at no cost to the families. And the books are age appropriate, they're high quality. And so by the time they enter in kindergarten, they have their own little library of books. And I think it's pretty cool to, you know, like even with her being gone, this is something that can continue for years and years to come. Even a couple of people that work here, they have family members, nieces, nephews, you know, kids that are a part of the program, which I think is pretty cool. And especially since there is an ongoing, ongoing literary crisis, you know, kind of taking shape across the country right now. And Dolly Parton's Imagination Library kicked off in 2020, which was the year of COVID, so a lot of things branched from that time. And so how many donations has there been so far since this organization started? Well, I know the number for the International Imagination Library program is over 300 million at this point. So it started in 1995. Obviously, we're as the local program partner, we're still well below that. But we currently we have around 250 children enrolled, and we're really hoping to expand that so that we can serve more children. Yeah. And so and I love this, you know, the story with Dolly, you know, how she talked about, like, you know, she didn't read easily growing up. But I think it's amazing how she was able to kind of take that point in her life and turn it into something great, you know, for other kids. And then that way they don't have the same fate. And I feel like nowadays, you know, kids are so into tablets and TV and video games and it's like, OK, why not take you know, it doesn't even have to be an hour or anything, but just a few moments to kind of learn how to read. Even parents reading with the kids like that'll make it a family thing. And so I know you brought a couple of books that are part of the program. So walk us through a little bit about what some of the kids have read or are currently reading. Yeah. So I left the books over here. You can grab them real quick. Oh, you know what? Well, we can just tell us. OK, so it was not prepared. So the first book all children receive is The Little Engine That Could. That was one of Dolly's favorite books when she was young. So that's the welcome book that they receive. And then the final book is about getting ready for kindergarten. And then in between, there's all sorts of different books. You know, they start at board books for the youngest readers. And then there's, you know, stories from all sorts of different kids. Different situations, you know, about going to the dentist or being out in nature, you know, just a wide variety. So they're really exposed to a lot of different stories, a lot of different perspectives and all while reading and, you know, hopefully reading with a caregiver. So there's that bonding, there's learning, there's gaining new perspective. There's, you know, so much that children can get out of the program. Yeah. And I think it's pretty amazing, too, you know, with Dolly. Not only did she make a difference in, you know, the music world, the movie world, but then also, you know, in the book community as well. And especially, you know, like even with her gone, she's going to live on forever, you know, forever through, you know, Dollywood and different things that she has going on. And I think it's pretty cool that, you know, this imagination library has been adapted into so many different states and a lot of different areas that are pulling this together, you know, to show that reading can be fun and the importance of reading a book, picking up a book. And so, Stephanie, before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to say to fellow book lovers out there? Yeah, if you're able to support the imagination library or if you have a young kid in your, you know, in your family or, you know, friends, kids, you know, get them involved, you can sign up at imaginationlibrary.com and check availability. Our Wayne State chapter covers just a few zip codes in Detroit right now, but there are affiliates all over the metro area and we're hoping to expand. So if it's not available in your area, you can opt in to be notified when it is available. Awesome. Well, Stephanie, thank you for the work that you're doing and keeping these kids educated and showing that, you know, reading can be fun. And thank you for taking the time to come and chat with me and fellow book lovers out there. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. And we'll be right back after a quick break.