First Lady Fran DeWine, joined by Ohio Governor Mike Dewine, participated in a book reading today at the Carroll County Library’s Malvern Branch to celebrate 100% enrollment for the Malvern Community in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. First Lady DeWine read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to local children and met with community members afterward.
Recently, First Lady Fran DeWine announced new records regarding participation in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio: 60% of Ohio’s eligible children – from birth to age 5 – enrolled in the program in January, which means 400,611 children received the books.
“I’m so thankful to all of our partners in 88 counties for helping us to bring these books to kids at no cost to their families,” said Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine. “We’ve come so far from the 13 percent enrollment when we started the effort to create a statewide program in 2019. And, of course, I am extremely grateful for Dolly Parton, who has sparked such an amazing opportunity for our little ones to learn before they start kindergarten.”
It is widely recognized that the best way to promote language development is by reading aloud to children, yet not all families have access to new and age-appropriate books for their children.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is changing that nationwide by sending monthly books for free to children from birth to age 5. The Ohio Governor's Imagination Library was founded in 2019 in partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Since then, Governor and First Lady DeWine have traveled the state to encourage enrollment in the program.
The program is now available to every Ohio child from birth to age 5. When enrolled, a child will be mailed a free age-appropriate book each month until their 5th birthday.
Parents can enroll their child at no cost by visiting OhioImaginationLibrary.org