News-Local news-Imagination Library

This is cool. We are lucky here in Wise to have a great library. They have been participating in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library . It seems the program is a hit. From the Coalfield Progress:

Most communities that join country music artist Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program are only serving about 20 percent of their population by the end of the first year.

Since March, about 1,000 children in Wise County and the city of Norton have signed up for the program. That's about 50 percent of the children who are eligible. And they've done it all in just seven months, since the program began locally in March. Monday, an Imagination Library lunch was held at Mosby's Restaurant in Wise to celebrate the enrollment of the 1,000th child, Gabriella Katherine Grace Wyatt of Norton. Gabriella, the daughter of Tonie and Donald Wyatt, was presented with a signed picture of Dolly Parton and a set of bookends to hold the books she'll soon start getting for free in the mail. Although Gabriella, who is 7 months old, probably doesn't realize it yet, she's getting a pretty good deal. The program, which is open to all children under the age of five, will provide her with one hardcover book per month by mail until her fifth birthday. And it's all for free. The Imagination Library is funded fully through donations. Gabriella's parents and the parents of other children who are enrolled in the program don't have to pay a penny. And sponsoring a child is cheap, at just $27 per year. That is a good deal. I am sponsering a child and you should too. What a gift that will make to any child this season. If your library is not participating in this program, they should. Tell them about it! I chose this charity because it benefits the kids. To give a child 60 hard cover books in 5 years is awesome. The great thing about books is they are often shared. I was lucky to have a 5th grade teacher, Ms. Popp, in Chicago who gave this rowdy boy a copy of S.E. Hintons 'The Outsiders." That is when my lust for books began and continues till this day. One person and one book changed my life. We all have that power.