Local children dressed up in costume and headed down Lower Street (Locust Avenue) to celebrate
20 years of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library recently.
Children, ages 0-6, were invited to dress as their favorite book characters and were led in the parade by Play & Learn teachers, who themselves dressed up as Toad from the ""Frog and Toad"" book series and as Madeline from the ""Madeline"" book series.
The parade featured kids as a butterfly, the little red hen, a princess, a dinosaur, a construction vehicle, a superhero, and a farmer, among others.
Sylvia Buchanan, who manages the Imagination Library for the Partnership, said “I can’t think of a better way to start the day than with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library book character parade! It was so lovely to see the children dressed in their costumes holding their favorite book as they serenaded and waved to everyone on Lower Street. We have given out over 350,000 books in the last 20 years, and we still are going strong!”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter a family’s income. Since spring 2006, the Blue Ridge Partnership for Children has managed the local Imagination Library, and many children have enjoyed the thrill of checking the mailbox to see if their monthly book has arrived.
Working with the Dollywood Foundation, the Blue Ridge Partnership for Children pays $40 per child each year for books & shipping costs. The books are funded by local donors, private grants, Smart Start funds, and state funds.
The Partnership holds several fundraisers each year, including the always popular AMY Wee Trade Sale coming up on May "28-30, to raise money to support reading & literacy skills in all three counties. There is no cost to parents for the books or for the delivery by U.S. Mail, so community members are welcome to sign up today for your children to be receiving books as early as next month.
You can sign up online at www.blueridgechildren.org/imagination-library/
The Imagination Library and Children’s Play & Learn are only two of the services the Partnership offers for local families and their young children. Those interested can come by the Partnership office in Burnsville or Newland to learn more about the programs and services, as well as to check out toys or books in the Children’s Resource Libraries.
