Your child could win a call from Dolly Parton to mark Imagination Library's 200M milestone
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To celebrate its 200 million-book milestone, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is taking a page out of classic book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and hiding special prize-winning bookmarks in books for a few lucky children.
The program sends a free book each month to enrolled children ages newborn to 5 to encourage a lifelong love of reading. To mark the distribution of 200 million books to children since the program began in 1995, seven special Dolly bookmarks will be hidden in random Imagination Library books sent to children during September, which is International Literacy Month, according to a release.
What do you win if you find a bookmark?
The seven lucky families receiving those bookmarks will receive:
A video chat with Dolly Parton if they choose.
A personalized signed letter and an autographed photo from Dolly.
Four Dollywood tickets.
The Local Imagination Library Partner in each winner's community will receive a $2,000 donation from the Dollywood Foundation on behalf of the child "as a thank you to who Dolly calls the true heroes of her program," according to the release. Knox County Public Library is the local partner for the Knoxville area, according to the Imagination Library website.
How can my child receive free books from Imagination Library?
Parents can enroll children between the ages of birth and 5 years through the website imaginationlibrary.com. Some local partners also offer enrollment by mail or in person; local affiliates can be found on the program's website.
To be eligible for the "200 Million Reasons to Celebrate” bookmark distribution, children must be younger than 5 and actively enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library by July 31.
Once children are registered, it can take eight to 12 weeks to receive the first book; after that, a new book is mailed monthly, according to the website.
Books sent out by the Imagination Library are published by Penguin Random House and are selected by a panel of experts in early childhood and reading to ensure they're age-appropriate. Books included on 2023 lists include "Llama Llama Red Pajama," "Richard Scarry’s First 100 Words," "Corduroy" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Breakfast."
Imagination Library got its start in East Tennessee
Prompted by her own father's inability to read or write, Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 for children in her hometown in Sevier County, Tennessee. The program now sends more than 2.4 million free books each month to children in five counties: the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.
“I know there are children in communities around the world with big dreams and the seeds of these dreams are often found in books,” Parton said in the news release about the 200 million celebration. “It’s been one of my greatest gifts in life to help instill a love of reading through my Imagination Library. Reaching 200 million books worldwide is a major milestone that I’m so very proud of, and I want to thank all of our local program partners, funders and supporters from the bottom of my heart. But we’re just getting warmed up, we have so much more to do! Together, we can inspire even more children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more.”
Robin Gibson is people and trends editor. Email ragibson@gannett.com. Twitter @RobinGibsonTSP.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dolly Parton Imagination Library to send prize bookmarks to 7 kids
