In 2018, more than 4,600 books have been sent to more than 400 children monthly through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a program that is completely free to those who sign up, but is financially supported by local donors. Every month, each child that registers, age 0-5, receives a book in the mail. These books are high quality, and are tailored to the child’s age and gender. They range from fun books to books that encourage learning. This program is supported by United Way of Central Kansas, but would not be possible without every single donation from community members who saw the need for children to have access to books from birth.
This program started in our area in 2012 in Larned and Ellinwood. In May 2017, the program was expanded to Hoisington and Otis, and just a month later, it was available to residents in Great Bend.
With the support of a grant from Golden Belt Community Foundation, UWCK is honored to be able to extend this now to cover every Zip Code in Barton & Pawnee Counties starting on November 1st. We will go from five communities, to eleven. These communities include Albert, Burdett, Garfield, Olmitz, Pawnee Rock, & Rozel. Residents in Burdett and Rozel can sign up at the Pawnee Heights Library, Pawnee Rock, Garfield, and Larned residents can visit the Jordaan Library in Larned, residents in Olmitz and Otis can visit the Otis Community Library, Albert and Great Bend residents can sign up at the Great Bend Public Library, and Hoisington residents can register at the Hoisington Community Library.
United Way of Central Kansas is grateful to our library partners throughout our area who take the lead on the day-to-day operations and enrollment for this program. As a parent of a child age 0-5 all you have to do is prove your residency in one of the covered zip codes and visit your local library to get signed up today! Once you are signed up, books will begin arriving in your mailbox monthly, after 8-10 weeks for processing time. To learn more about the program or to donate to help us continue to support children learning to read, you can visit our website, www.uwck.org/dolly.