COLUMBUS, Ohio — Country music singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton has been gifting free books to children through her program, Imagination Library, since 1995. In Ohio alone, 327,000 children receive a free, age-appropriate book every month. After the success the program has seen in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine has declared Aug. 9 as Dolly Parton Day, his office announced in a news release.
Parton will be in Columbus Tuesday to celebrate early literacy and her success with the program, the release states. With a push from First Lady Fran DeWine, the program that was once only in a few counties in Ohio is now available to children up to the age of five in every county.
“I want every child in Ohio to have access to these books and to have the advantages literacy brings,” said Fran DeWine on Ohio's Imagination Library website.
The program has done exceptionally well in Summit and Medina counties, with children in those counties receiving over 1 million books over the years. To enroll your child in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, click here.
Download the WCPO app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
