(Colorado) -- You might've seen us post on social media last month that a program that gives kids under the age of five free books is coming to Colorado.
Both Las Animas and La Junta are offering the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
Dolly Parton, yes, the singer, is giving back by giving books away, you just have to sign up. The Imagination Library program is now in five countries.
On her website for the program, Parton explains that she started the effort because she was inspired to help others by her own father's inability to read and write. The program started in 1995 and now it provide more than a million free books each month to kids all over the world.
She writes in her own words about why she's so passionate about her project:
“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer. The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
Follow the link above or just visit the Bent County Library or the Woodruff Memorial library in La Junta and ask about it.
You might get a little person interested in the books, here's Dolly reading a goodnight story from one of the books featured in the program.
We know that reading inspires big dreams and big plans. We know that good readers are good students and often times well adjusted adults.
On a personal note before she died in 2018, my mom, Judy Anne Boswell, was involved with literacy efforts in Oklahoma. She volunteered for the Tulsa Area book bank, a free bookstore where no questions are asked you can take as many books as you'd like. She also volunteered to tutor adults learning to read for the first time. We take a lot for granted but literacy is the one thing that is truly attainable without a lot of resources and money.
I hope you'd found this helpful, useful and will share it with someone who will as well.
~Anne
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