Abilene turns a page on literacy with launch of Imagination Library

The Dolly Parton song "Here You Come Again" took on a new meaning Wednesday.

For youngsters in Taylor County, it soon will mean the arrival of a book in the mail each month.

Abilene became the 51st branch of Dolly Parton Imagination Library this week. Thanks to grants, sponsors and, in the future, community donations, any child from birth to age 5 can be signed up to receive a free book January through December. That's 60 books if the sign-up is a gift to a newborn.

And, Julie Wilson, who with her husband, Gary, gave one of the first gifts to bring the literacy program here, said reading to a child can start immediately. There's no need to wait until a child understands a story or can read themselves.

"It's so important to get families reading at a young age," she said. "Sometimes parents will say, 'We'll start reading as soon as they are old enough.' I say, 'No, when they're born, they're old enough.'

"I am delighted this is happening."

Stats show reading is key

At Wednesday morning's event at the Mall of Abilene branch of the Abilene Public Library, a number of statistics were given. In summation, those numbers point to two things: A literacy deficiency is holding back many Americans, and studies show that reading at an early age sets a youngster on path to success.

Another is that 80% of the brain is developed by age 3. So, it's important to read, said Cathy Ashby, who heads United Way of Abilene.

"Those early learning skills just lead to success all the way through life," she said. "It gives them a foundation to build on. That is the reason why we brought Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to Taylor County."

The arrival of the program is a team effort between United Way and the library system, though there are many other partners. A committee called "Built By Books" guided the effort to bring DP to Abi.

A soft rollout targeting the Abilene ISD's Long Early Learning Center and Day Nursery of Abilene already has enrolled 800 youngsters.

It was stated that 10,135 residents of Taylor County are under age 5. If the expected 60% participation level is reached, that's 6,083 children who could get a book a month.

The first one is a classic - "The Little Engine That Could."

The last book in the series is one affirming the child is ready for school - "Kindergarten Here I Come."

She grew up a 'book nerd'

Ashby introduced the program Wednesday by admitting that she grew up a "book nerd."

So much so that a great day in her early life came when her mother ordered the complete Encyclopedia Britannica set, including the kid's version. She would read the volumes, A to Z.

"They're still in my room" back home, she said.

She became her hometown sleuth thanks to reading the Nancy Drew mystery series.

Reading led her into teaching and a yearly requirement of students was to turn in a book report. In her civics classes at Cooper High School, she required a written report on a biography of a famous American. That often was met by students' groans.

She said a young man named David Young was in one of her classes, and he groaned, too.

Young today is superintendent of the Abilene ISD.

They've asked for years

For the past 10 or so years, Ashby has led United Way, which in many ways focuses on children.

"I have always loved books, so you can't imagine how exciting today is," she said. About eight years ago, a parent called her to ask if the Imagination Library program was available here. Ashby had to say no.

Julee Hammer, librarian for the public system in Abilene, said that same.

"The community has been asking us about (the program) for years and now we get to answer, 'Yes, are part of the Imagination Library," Hammer said. "We share Dolly's dream that every child should grow up in a house full of books regardless of the environment in which they live."

Reading early in life changes a child's attitude about reading, she said. Public library use rises in areas where there is an Imagination Library program, she said.

Registration for the program is available at the mall, downtown and North Mockingbird Lane branches, she said. A laptop is set up at each to register. There also will be coinciding Imagination Library programming.

The program is free to participants, but the cost is about $50 a child, Ashby said. For now, the cost is covered. Eventually, donors will be important to keep the program running.

Perfect opportunity

Wilson had no hesitation making a donation to the Imagination Library. She had gone to Ashby asking about a donor opportunity. The Wilsons have been in Abilene only two years, moving here after 40 years in Fort Worth. They have grandchildren in the Jim Ned CISD, she said.

Ashby said she told Julie Wilson "we need it here, our kids need it here."

"I jumped on it," she said of Ashby's suggestion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. It was something that Ashby had wanted to bring here but had been cost prohibitive. "We are those people who whenever our friends have babies, I don't care what they've signed up for or registered for, we get them books."

A short poem goes with it, she said:

"You may have treasures and weather untold

Caskets of silver and coffers of gold

Richer than I you can never be

Because I had a mother who read to me."

"That just touched our heart," she said. Participating in the Imagination Library program would be a way to turn words into reality.

"When (Ashby) said she'd love to have it here, we said, 'Let's make that happen,'" Wilson said.

The Dian Graves Owen and Brown foundations joined in fundraising effort. Donors can give from $50 to $1,000 toward the program to sustain it in the future. A $50 gift provides 12 books over a year.

Listening to the squeals of youngsters who moments before had paraded into the library wearing their gray Imagination Library T-shirts, she said, "This is a special day. I am sad that my grandkids are too old to participate."

The next generation

Megan Allred, who spoke, at the event and chaired the effort to launch the reading program here, has a 3-year-old son, Quinton, who is signed up already. Her other son, Bryson, just turned 5. But maybe Quinton will share.

The program will "fueling the next generation with the skills and resources they need for success," she said. "Our children are our future."

Allred said the Imagination Library effort is another example of the city "minding the gap," which was the United Way slogan in 2020 when needs arose during the pandemic.

For those who don't have qualifying children, Allred asked that the word be spread to those who do.

Studies show that 130 million adults in the United States have low literacy skills, meaning they cannot read at the level of a sixth-grader.

County Commissioner Chuck Statler, reading a proclamation by the county, said the annual earning power of Americans would rise $2.2 trillion if adults' literacy was at even the minimum level. That's 10% of the gross domestic product.

And so, there's an economic reward to reading, as well as social and other positive results.

Working '9 to 5' with Dolly

As book fans filed out of the mall library, some took photos with a life-size cutout of Dolly.

One was Ricardo Gutierrez, who leads the Chamber of Commerce Redcoats.

Their ribbon-cutting effort at the library was an adventure. It took four snips, each progressively snippier, and finally a yank of the red ribbon to cut it as the crowd laughed and cheered encouragement to "The Big Scissors That Couldn't."

Gutierrez stood next to Dolly - they are the same height, and Dolly goes only five feet - and maybe closer than he would have in person. He made eyes at her.

He insisted he wasn't leaning into her - she was leaning into him. Magically, the cutout did so.

Someone exiting commented that working with Dolly comes naturally. After all, "Jolene" rhymes with Abilene.

How to enroll

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene turns a page on literacy with launch of Imagination Library