HARDEMAN COUNTY, TN.— Hardeman County Imagination Library–HCIL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation–in partnership with the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation, is celebrating 20 years of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) in our county.
The program serves enrolled children from birth to age five; over 3,770 children have graduated from the program and some 192,000 books have been mailed to children in Hardeman County.
The question is “So what?” What difference does it make? What is the IMPACT of the time,
money, and labor that it took to achieve these results?
The answer can be found in a recent document titled “Groundbreaking International Study of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.” Authored by Dr. Claire Galea, United Way Australia’s Head of Research, the report includes a summary of key findings from this study done in five countries: US, Canada, U.K., Australia, and Republic of Ireland.
IMPACT findings for the USA are summarized in the report and include the following positive
effects of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library:
- Children in the US were 11X more likely to be interested in books and 15X more likely to join in during shared book reading compared to children not in the program.
- Children in the US were nearly 3X more likely to demonstrate concepts about print compared to children not in the program.
- Children in the US were 9X more likely to initiate shared book reading compared to children not in the program
- Children in the US were 5X more likely to be interested in reading compared to children not in the program.
- And finally, caregivers were 6X more likely to count images, 8X more likely to describe images, and 5X more likely to let the child hold the book compared to caregivers not in the program.
The above Impact information motivates and inspires us to encourage our readers to join us as
we celebrate the long-term investment we are making in the social and economic development
of our children and our county.
The mission of the Hardeman County Imagination Library is to reach the parents/guardians and
enroll each eligible child in our county and to raise our share of the cost to pay for the books.
We solicit your support in both efforts. Enroll a child in the Dolly Parton Imagination and make a donation (please specify “Hardeman County” to designate).
