Ravalli County ‘Imagination Library’ campaign expanding
Country music icon Dolly Parton believes that when you read books, it opens up a world of possibilities. Syble Solomon of Hamilton shares that belief, and she’s helping local children in Ravalli County get that opportunity through Imagination Library, Parton’s wildly successful early reading program. Solomon is the local coordinator and has registered over 1000 children in the program since it started in June 2020. All children who are registered receive a free book in the mail once per month until the age of 5. So far, 12,548 books have been delivered locally since June of 2020.
According to the Imagination Library website, Parton launched Imagination Library in 1995, to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee. Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. The new program gave each child a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age appropriate books directly to their homes, Dolly
wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
Since its launch, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has set and surpassed many goals and milestones. National replication, which started in 2000, allowed more and more communities to adopt the program. State-wide coverage was established in Tennessee in 2004. Furthermore, international growth provided expansion in Canada (2006), United Kingdom (2007) and Australia (2014).
The first book order in 1995 totaled just over 1700. Today, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends more than one million books per month to children around the world.
The Imagination Library provides the infrastructure of the core program including managing the secure central database for the book order system and coordinating book selections and wholesale purchasing. It also incurs the cost of the program’s administrative expenses and coordinates the monthly mailings.
Parton’s father was illiterate and he said it was the best thing she could ever do in her lifetime of achievements.
The Ravalli County program is the 18th program in the state of Montana, where programs range from one small school district to multi-county programs through the United Way in Missoula. A non-profit organization is required to sponsor the program, and in Ravalli County the sponsoring organization is Sapphire Community Health Center.
Solomon moved to the Bitterroot five years ago, knowing that she wanted to volunteer to start an Imagination Library program here. As coordinator, her responsibilities are to register children from birth to 5 years of age, increase public awareness, and get donations to fund the local program. First Security Bank came on board as the lead financial sponsor, and the first books were delivered in July of 2020. Dolly Parton sends every child that registers a copy of “The Little Engine That Could” as their first book. The final book is “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come.”
All the books are age-appropriate. Parton wants children to be exposed to new ideas through these books. There are many classics featured, as well as stories about other countries and cultures.
“We now have 1000 children registered,” said Solomon. She said the prediction for the first year was 195. “We’ve far exceeded expectations here,” she said.
Solomon attributes the success of Imagination Library here to the fact that people know of Dolly Parton and they really like her and trust her. “She has a great reputation,” said Solomon.
“Everybody wants the best for their children,” said Solomon. “Everyone knows that the earlier we expose children to words and reading, the better they do. When parents and children snuggle up together and parents read to their children, it makes their kids smarter, healthier, and more prepared for school.”
Solomon also said that in addition to Dolly’s great reputation and the help of Dixie Stark with Literacy Bitterroot and Trey Anthony, who included free ads for the Imagination Library in his direct mail piece called The Mailman, “We were able to reach a lot of children quickly through the support of preschools, churches, sports teams, schools and our libraries through the county helping to spread the word. We’d like to thank everyone who posted information in their newsletters, emails and on their facebook pages.”
Some parents are now registering their children as soon as they’re born; one boy was registered on the day of his birth, said Solomon. If they register at birth, they will have received 60 books during the five years that they are eligible.
Solomon says that kids are registered from every zip code in the valley. She said her two grandchildren were the first two children she registered.
Solomon’s first career was in early childhood education. She specialized in working with children with special needs. “My love for kids has stayed with me,” she said. She’s also a successful entrepreneur, running her company called Money Habitudes that addresses people’s issues around money. She provides workshops and training for universities, non-profits and in the corporate world.
Solomon wants to get the word out to parents that this free program is available to their children. Information is available at Head Start and at all the local libraries, and children can be registered there. Solomon hopes to work with the school districts and to get the program into the schools, but she said it’s been a little difficult during the pandemic.
“With Covid it’s been tough,” she said. “It’s hard to get in touch with people.” She has sent information to everybody, she said, even soccer leagues have shared the info. She has put brochures in laundromats, supermarkets and the farmers market. At Marcus Daly Hospital, mothers who give birth there receive a packet containing registration information.
According to the website all4kids.org, the benefits of reading to children include: supports cognitive development; improves language skills; prepares children for academic success; develops a special bond with your child; increases concentration and discipline; improves imagination and creativity; cultivates a lifelong love of reading.
Solomon’s goal is to expand the Imagination Library program and to boost registrations. But the program does take money to run – about $25 per child – so adding another 1000 children would cost about $25,000. Originally, Ravalli County Imagination Library received a $2000 Elks Spotlight grant, and the Elks have continued to contribute regularly, as have other business sponsors. Anyone wishing to donate can go to imaginationlibraryravallicounty.com or call Syble at 361-8012. Donating through the local program website allows Solomon to track what’s being raised locally.