What
An Evening with Dolly: Celebrating Imagination Library in West Virginia
When
Tuesday, August 9, 2022, 5:30 p.m.
Where
The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, 1 Clay Square, Charleston, WV 25301
Contact
Christy Day, West Virginia Department of Education Office of Communications
Singer, songwriter, actress and early childhood literacy advocate Dolly Parton will visit Charleston, West Virginia to celebrate the successful statewide coverage of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The program is administered through a partnership between Marshall University’s June Harless Center and the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) and provides a high quality, age-appropriate book each month to enrolled children from birth to age five – at no cost to families in all 55 counties.
The event is not open to the public but will be broadcast and streamed on West Virginia Public Broadcasting television stations and social media channels starting at 5:30 p.m. The evening includes a fireside chat and two songs by Parton.
Last year, the WVDE announced a major Imagination Library milestone with all 55 counties active in the program. Parton promised to visit West Virginia once all counties were onboard making the state one of 11 in the U.S. with the distinction. More than 3 million books have been provided to children in the Mountain State since 2007, and nearly 2 million books are mailed each month to children around the world.
Early childhood literacy is the foundation of academic achievement and success. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the pre-eminent early childhood book-gifting program and is built on decades of research demonstrating that having books in the home supports a love of reading and literacy skills.
To learn more about the Imagination Library or to enroll a child, visit the June Harless Center websiteor WVDE website.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the pre-eminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted well over 182 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more. The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.
