A familiar face will be traveling to Fairfield on July 10th helping Read SI celebrate the launch of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library for Wayne County. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was founded in 1995 and has grown to become a global initiative dedicated to ensuring every child has access to books and serving over one million children.
The familiar face is a life-size cutout of the singer, songwriter and philanthropist. Kiddie Kollege will host a special Launch event on July 10th at 9:30 to ceremoniously “flip the switch” on the enrollment portal so all families in Wayne County can enroll their child(ren) ages birth to five to receive a FREE book each month in the mail until they turn five years of age. A registration table will be set up for parents who would like assistance in enrolling their child. Postcards with QR codes will be available as well. There will be a special presentation by Mayor Gary Moore and refreshments will be served. The event is open to the public and area businesses/organizations and all childcare providers and early childhood service providers are encouraged to attend. Come take a picture with “Dolly”!
The Dollywood Foundation pays for infrastructure costs such as managing enrollment, coordinating mailing and negotiating bulk wholesale costs of the books. The remaining costs are shared by the State of Illinois and Read SI, whose members successfully raised the necessary funds to launch the program. As enrollment grows, so will the funding needs. Securing support from community members will be ongoing. The cost is $13.30 per child, per year. The total cost per year for all Wayne County children will be $14,495 per year. Donations may be made to SICF, P.O. Box 1772, Marion, IL 62959.
A complete listing of the Imagination Library sponsors can be found on the Read SI website at www.readsi.org. Schools and childcare programs have also made donations by sponsoring Imagination Library enrollment for all of the children in their program. Among those are Kiddie Kollege in Fairfield and Rainbow Day Care in Eldorado.
For more information about the Imagination Library and how to enroll a child, please visit www.Readsi.org and for more information in general, you can contact: Lori Longueville, Southern Illinois Coalition for Children and Families 618-924-0504 OR Jill Andrews, Kiddie Kollege 618-847-7102 or jillandrews@fairfieldwireless.net
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