Literacy advocates want to sign up 100 additional Anson County children for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a family reading program that provides books by mail.
The Anson County Partnership for Children currently provides the service to about 1,400 children from birth to age 5. Its goal is to register all 1,500 Anson County children in this age group.
All funds raised at the 10th annual Barn Blast, a fundraiser planned for Jan. 29 at South Piedmont Community College’s Lockhart-Taylor Center in Wadesboro, will be used for Partnership for Children programs, including Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
This year’s Barn Blast is dedicated to the memory of Shaundasia Smith, a 16-year-old Anson New Technology High School student who was fatally shot during a March 29 shooting at a friend’s home. Her host’s friend, 22-year-old Roger Lee Rorie, faces an involuntary manslaughter charge in Shaundasia’s death.
In 1995, Parton launched her Imagination Library to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee. Her vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by giving them a specially selected book each month.
By mailing age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted families to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. She also wanted to ensure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
In 2000, Parton announced that she would make the Imagination Library available to any community willing to partner with her to support it locally. The program has gone from just a few dozen books to more than 60 million books mailed to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Currently, more than 1,600 local communities provide the Imagination Library to 750,000 children each month.
In 2006, the Anson County Partnership for Children made the decision to fund the Imagination Library for all children birth to age 5 in Anson County and created the Barn Blast fundraiser in 2007 to fund the program. Since 2006, 3,344 children in Anson County have participated in this program and a total of 104,130 books have been mailed to Anson County families.
Research has shown that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library drastically improves early childhood literacy skills and results in improved reading scores in school for children enrolled in the program, according to the Partnership for Children.
“This program is one of the most important ways I know to improve the educational opportunities for children in your community,” Parton said in a statement. “I hope you’ll agree to become a champion of the Imagination Library. You will be amazed at the impact this simple gift can have on the lives of children and their families.”
Community members can help expand the program by supporting the 2016 Barn Blast. This fundraising event features dinner, dancing, drinks, silent auctions, a live auction and lots of western-themed fun.
Reserved tables for eight are available for $400 and individual tickets are $60 each. Business sponsorships, donations in any amount and auction item donations are welcome.
For tickets or more information about the 2016 Barn Blast, call or come by the Anson County Partnership for Children, 117 S. Greene St., Wadesboro, 704 694-4036, or visit www.ansonchildren.org.
Elaine Scarborough is executive director of the Anson County Partnership for Children.