Wait, you say. Preschool children can't READ. Well, no, they can't. But all the research shows that reading to kids and exposing kids to print on a page is preparing them for success in school and in life. Hearing new words when being read to prepares children to read those words for themselves. So that means you should be reading to the child in your life.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a foundation that provides books to preschool children at no cost to the family. Local groups pay for the cost of mailing the books to the children. In Russell County, the Russell County Rotary Club has joined the Friends of the Library and the Lebanon Lions Club to get the Imagination Library off the ground. Registration brochures are available in the public libraries and at other sites in the county. Online registration will be available soon.
Why blog about it? Well, hey, we are THE LIBRARY!! Of course we think reading is a cool and wonderful thing. One of the primary goals for the library is to create young readers. The Imagination Library helps do that. Each month a child gets a book mailed to his or her home. The book is just right for the child's age; so the babies get board books (simple books designed to survive the teething stage!), while older children get books that help them get ready for school (think numbers, letters and colors.) In fact, the last book is Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, which arrives the month the child turns 5.
What can you do? Well, you can make a contribution. A contribution of $30 (payable to Russell County Imagination Library, POB 545, Lebanon, VA 24266) will pay the cost of mailing books to one child for one year. And, of course, you can read to a child. :)
Just imagine...lots of happy readers. It's easy if you try. Set a good example; read something today.
posted by Kelly
