State, Dolly Parton Imagination Library partner for free books to children five and under
A program offering free books to all Illinois children ages five and under kicked off on Tuesday, following an announcement by Gov. JB Pritzker.
The state will partner with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, an initiative providing more than 2.8 million books per month globally. Funding from the state comes in this year's budget, where $1.6 million is being allocated to expand the program already offered in 40 counties throughout Illinois.
"This is something that is going to make an enormous difference in... hundreds of thousands of children's lives and particularly children who don't have books at home," the governor said in Bloomington Tuesday.
More: Former Madigan, Welch chief of staff up for job as Springfield's statehouse lobbyist
Already more than 30,000 children are registered statewide in the program. In Sangamon and Menard counties, United Way of Central Illinois is the local partner overseeing the distribution of books to nearly 1,000 children.
To expand the program to all children from birth to age five, the Pritzker administration is imploring more organizations to partner with the Dollywood Foundation and those already in practice to increase their capacity. The state's current population for that age range is about 745,000.
Tina Prather, UWCI director of marketing and communications, said those conversations already are ongoing with early childhood learning centers. The infusion from the state will allow UWCI to cover 50% of the cost of each child in the program.
"It's so instrumental in getting books in their hands, getting them to learn the basics about reading, even before they can read themselves," she said. UWCI sent out its 200,000th book earlier this year.
Reading to children early has major implications for children later in life, a study from Ohio State University found. The 2019 study found children whose parents read them one book a day enter kindergarten having heard about 290,000 more words than kids who were never read to.
"Getting books in the hands of children as soon as possible is so important," Library Library Director Gwen Harrison told The State Journal-Register. "There's no downside."
The investment comes after the state lawmakers included $250 million to fund the first-year of the Smart Start Illinois initiative — considered the governor's signature budget push this year — which would expand preschool access to all Illinois children by 2027 and look to stabilize the childcare workforce.
Those wishing to register or to check the availability of a local program can do so by visiting the Imagination Library website or through UWCI.
Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Pritzker launches statewide Dolly Parton Imagination Library
