Sarasota County kids have been getting free books in the mail for almost twenty years now, thanks to a program most people associate with rhinestones and hit records. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has sent roughly 250,000 books to local children since the county joined in 2008, and about 1,200 kids are currently enrolled. Every month, a new book arrives with the child’s name on it. Families pay nothing.
The program serves children from birth through age 5, the window when early literacy takes root. Katie Dow and Merab Favorite with Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources say it’s the most important time for kids to learn reading and words. Dolly started the whole thing in 1995, inspired by her father, who never learned to read. Four-year-old Theodore Hitt is one of the local kids enrolled, and his mom Anisa says those monthly books have become part of the family’s routine.
There’s just one problem: demand has outgrown funding. The program maintains a waiting list for families who want to enroll, and donations are what move children off it. About $30 sponsors one child for a full year of books, which works out to twelve monthly deliveries and a lot of bedtime stories for the price of a couple of lunches.
Want to help? Sarasota County Libraries accepts donations, and every dollar goes toward getting a book into a local child’s hands. So tell us: what’s the one children’s book you’d want every kid in Sarasota County to have on their shelf?
