Governor John Carney, First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney, and Dr. Annie Norman of the Delaware Libraries will welcome Dolly Parton on Thursday for a statewide celebration of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
In Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Delaware program, children ages birth to 5 years old receive a free book in the mail each month to inspire a love of reading.
Families can sign up for the Imagination Library on Delaware Libraries’ website: lib.de.us/imagination
Children whose parents enroll them with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library through Delaware libraries receive one new book in the mail each month from birth until the child’s fifth birthday at no cost to the family, creating a personal library of as many as 60 books that can help form the foundation of a child’s early reading experience. Information and registration are available online through the Delaware Division of Libraries.
Governor Carney announced a pilot launch of the Imagination Library program in five Delaware school districts in his 2020 State of the State address. Beginning in February, the Division of Libraries partnered with 13 local public libraries to make the program available to families within the pilot districts. So far, more than 3,800 children have been enrolled in the program and received more than 16,000 books.
The Imagination Library program is also an important component of the First Chance Delaware initiative for children, led by First Lady Carney. The mission of First Chance Delaware includes promoting learning readiness through literacy and parent-child engagement.
This event will be livestreamed on Governor Carney’s Facebook page, YouTube, and de.gov/live.