Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Needs Your Help to Keep Books in the Hands of Southwest Michigan Children

This weekend ushers in the month of March, and with it, the beginning of National Reading Month. There’s no better time for us as a community to concentrate our efforts on early childhood education and the positive growth a good children’s book can have. That’s why United Way of Southwest Michigan is inviting you to assist us in sustaining the work of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides books free of charge to all children under the age of 5 and their families, regardless of income. However, the cost for United Way to provide this program is close to $35 per child per year. Currently, nearly 5,300 children are enrolled in the program in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties.

To sustain our current child enrollment in the program, we need approximately $185,000 annually. To begin allowing new enrollees, the program needs at least $250,000 annually. While many sponsorships and grants from area foundations have been secured for this program, there is still a gap in funding because of its immense popularity among families.

“Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been one of United Way’s most beloved programs in our community for years,” states United Way of Southwest Michigan President & CEO Anna Murphy. “United Way is confident that its many supporters—including those individuals and families who have benefited from it—will rally behind this fundraising effort and contribute to ensure this program will continue to serve as many children and families in Southwest Michigan as possible.”

Besides the joy a child gets from receiving a book every month in the mail, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is important to Southwest Michigan because nearly 60% of third graders in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties are not meeting reading proficiency. 75% of children who are poor readers in third grade will be poor readers in high school. Many of these children will struggle or eventually drop out of school.

In order for children to possess the proper reading skills in third grade, efforts at developing literacy abilities need to begin much sooner. Research shows that the learning environment at home, even from the very birth of a child, has a tremendous impact on the short-term and long-term reading capability of a child. If children adopt early reading habits at a young age with the assistance of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, we sincerely hope to change these statistics and better prepare our children for the future.

Won’t you help us close the funding gap for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library? It’s easy to contribute. Simply visit uwsm.org/DPIL or text Give2DPIL to 41444. Any amount helps.

Without the help of our current sustainability partners, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library would not be possible in our community! A big thank you to our series sponsors Silver Beach Pizza, Michigan Works Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren, and Gast Manufacturing. Additional integral partners to the program include: Great Start Collaborative of Berrien County (Berrien RESA), Heritage Southwest Intermediate School District (Cass County), Van Buren Intermediate School District, Midwest Energy & Communications, A Gift from Sally Esman (via Kalamazoo Community Foundation), The Pokagon Fund, Michigan Gateway Community Foundation, The McLoughlin Family Foundation, Jerry & Terry French, The Wood Foundation, The Leighton Foundation, The Edward & Irma Hunter Foundation, The De Groot Family Foundation, and the Frederick S. Upton Foundation.