WPBN: A $100,000 grant to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Kentucky was announced by the Kentucky Association of Health Plans (KAHP) on Monday. The gift expands the Imagination Library’s efforts to give free books to Commonwealth children ages one to five.
First Lady Britainy Beshear acknowledged KAHP’s generosity and the value of the Imagination Library for Kentucky’s youngest residents during a speech at the Paul Sawyier Public Library.
“I want to thank the Kentucky Association of Health Plans for their generous donation to our chapter of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. You are showing the true spirit of Team Kentucky — living out our values and taking care of all of our neighbors, especially our kids,” Beshear stated. “Because of gifts like the one we’re celebrating today, every preschool child in our state can build their own library at no cost to their family. That’s 60 books just for them, all before they start kindergarten, and we know the positive impact will last throughout the rest of their lives.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is open to all Kentucky children from birth to age five. Every book is age-appropriate and selected to help a child at each stage of literacy development.
Children who are enrolled in the Imagination Library will have mastered colors, shapes, numbers, and the fundamentals of literacy to start reading for the rest of their lives by the time they are five years old and ready for kindergarten.
Families are not charged, and there is no registration deadline.
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“KAHP recognizes the profound impact that literacy has on the well-being of both the family and the child,” Katherine Kington North, KAHP vice president of external affairs stated. “Health plans work for the best health outcomes for the children of Kentucky, and we know that children who struggle with reading frequently face higher rates of anxiety and depression.”
Enrolling kids who don’t have access to books will help them be more prepared for kindergarten, develop their social skills, and lay the groundwork for a healthier future.
According to research, pupils who are not proficient readers by the fourth grade are more likely to experience academic difficulties. Poverty and crime are two more long-term issues that are associated with low literacy rates in our community.
