KENTON COUNTY, Ky. — Northern Kentucky families are now getting free books from the moment their children are born.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Educate-NKY and public libraries across Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties have partnered to offer new parents the chance to sign up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library directly from the hospital.
"It's a QR code. You sign up, they get a book a month, delivered directly to their house. They even have Braille, Hispanic and other languages too that they offer," said Neonatal Intensive Care manager at St. Elizabeth in Edgewood Keri Hinson.
The flyer links directly to the Dolly Parton Imagination enrollment page, allowing parents to sign up before they leave. The QR codes are distributed by nurses and managers in St. Elizabeth's postpartum units, reaching about 4,000 families each year.
"There are several families that are unaware of it. I feel like this is good information for us to launch it here," Hinson said.
Book costs are covered through a three-way funding structure in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.
The state pays for 50% of the program. Libraries pay half of the remaining amount after the state pays its portion and schools pay based on the percentage of participants living in their districts' zip codes.
For the rest of the commonwealth, the state pays 50% and local funders cover the remaining 50%.
Olivia Fentress, who had her daughter Lucy on Tuesday, didn't know much about the program but heard about it from a co-worker. She said she also has a 2-year-old son, Arlo, who loves to read.
"Our toddler just loves all books and always has from the beginning, and even though he probably couldn't understand what was being read early on, it was our little bonding moment to read stories," Fentress said.
WATCH: St. Elizabeth Healthcare partners with libraries and Educated NKY to offer Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Both Lucy and Arlo are now signed up for the program.
"(Reading) really does affect his vocabulary," Fentress said.
Last year, we reported that just 20% of Newport children started school ready to read. The program builds on Read Ready Newport, a city effort that aims to expand learning resources, including Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
Ohio has a similar initiative where new parents are asked about the Imagination Library in birth certificate paperwork.
"We have enrolled 4,000 children in our program in Kenton County. Campbell County started the program in Northern Kentucky, and then Boone," said Dave Schroeder, director of Kenton County Library. "So we are the newest of the three, but there are literally probably 10,000 children in Northern Kentucky who are in this program, which is a wonderful thing."
The initiative launched in late October. Schroeder said when children are read to, they tend to do better when they get to preschool and kindergarten.
"We're emphasizing to parents the importance of reading for brain development," Schroeder said.
Libraries will track enrollment increases directly linked to the hospital rollout using birth-year reporting. In Kenton County, 611 children born in the last eight months are already enrolled.
