A program designed for all children
The Literacy Council of Buncombe County currently has the capacity to enroll 1,905 children in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library thanks to funding from Buncombe Partnership for Children and the NC state legislature. This book gifting program mails a free, age-appropriate book to enrolled children every month from birth until they turn five years old. The program is designed to be open to all children under the age of five in a service area.
Partners are key to enrolling
hard-to-reach children
At the Literacy Council of Buncombe County, we know that more literate and middle-to-high income families tend to hear about the program more frequently through social media and the internet; have access to computers, printers, and postage stamps to submit the enrollment form; and have the literacy skills needed to fill out the enrollment form.
In order to ensure that we are also reaching children who live in households without these resources, we have developed partnerships with organizations that can assist families in high-needs, low-income, and/or low-literate homes in filling out the enrollment paperwork. By doing so, we are working to ensure that children from homes with few books can start receiving free books in the mail each month.
A new partnership reaches recently-homed families
Local nonprofit Homeward Bound has two programs that offer housing to individuals and families currently living in shelters, their cars, or on the streets. To welcome formerly homeless people into their new homes, Rezaz is donating a “first meal,” and the Literacy Council is enrolling any children under the age of five in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Together, these partners are providing housing, food, and children’s books to families as they enter the safety and comfort of permanent housing.
Other referral partners
Nonprofits that meet a variety of needs in Buncombe County are enrolling their clients in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. These organizations include:
- Buncombe County Government Community Engagement Markets
- Barnardsville Elementary School
- Buncombe Partnership for Children
- Community Action Opportunities
- Community Care of WNC
- HelpMate
- MANNA FoodBank
- Leicester Community Center
- Nurse Family Partnership
- Verner Center for Early Learning
- Weaverville Library
- YWCA of Asheville
