Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Program Bringing Books to Eastern Oregon Kids
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, August 25th, 2023 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
EASTERN OREGON – Early childhood stimulation, especially reading, is incredibly important. While having easy access to children’s books may seem trivial at times, it isn’t always so simple. Be it down to location, finances, or simply being too busy to swing by the library regularly, not every family can get the books they need as often as they need. Thankfully, a network of local community partners, along with a certain well known country star, are going out of their way to ensure young children across Eastern Oregon have a guaranteed and diverse source of books.
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program is a free service founded in 1995 as an extension of the Dollywood Foundation. Families can sign up to receive monthly, age-appropriate books for any children under the age of 5. As best described directly on the Imagine Library’s about page:
“Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. The new program gave each child a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, Dolly wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.”
The program has since expanded out from Tennessee to cover various states and even other countries. The Imagination Library was specifically launched in Eastern Oregon in 2019 through the Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s (OTEC’s) Member Foundation and covers Union, Baker, Grant and Harney counties. All funds for the program come from unclaimed capital credits, similar to OTEC’s academic scholarships, and do not impact member rates. According to Lea Hoover, executive director for the Member Foundation, the program has since mailed over sixty thousand books.
The books themselves are all sourced from Tennessee via a partner group of the Dollywood Foundation. Despite the scope and logistics involved, variety and quality of books are not skimped on as explained by Hoover:
“They’re age specific, and they rotate every year. If you have a two and a four-year-old in your home, they’re going to get different books. So you’ll be getting two sets of different books.”
In addition to the primary book giving service, OTEC also recently launched an out of coverage extension option. A participant in the program can have a book sent to an eligible child that may live outside of the four counties covered by OTEC so long as the participant covers the cost. As further explained by Hoover:
“If you have, say, a grandchild that lives in a different state or a different county that’s not covered by the program, you can actually run their book through OTEC. What we do is we ask that you pay the full cost for that child through the age of five. With that sponsorship, your grandchild or your best friend’s kid, another child that you know that lives outside of the area would also be receiving a book through the OTEC Foundation Program.”
Helping keep the program running are a veritable army of community partners, ranging from local businesses, non-profits and, appropriately, local libraries, with over eight five in total. The partnered libraries include the Grant County Library, Cook Memorial Library, Union Public Library, Baker County Library District, Harney County Library, and the Harney County Library Foundation. Partnered hospitals even provide newborns with their very first books.
For those that would like to sign up, registration is available at local participating libraries, on the OTEC website, calling into an OTEC front office or via the Imagination Library Website itself.
