Speaker Welch Applauds Funding for Dolly Parton Imagination Library
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is encouraging all children in Illinois to sign up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality, and age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five, regardless of the family’s income.
“Fostering a love for reading at a young age is incredibly important for a child’s development and success,” said Speaker Welch. “Literacy is one of our greatest tools. Whether we’re reading to learn about new ideas, gain a better understanding of our past, or to transport ourselves into a fictional world, we all deserve to experience the magic of books. I’m grateful that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will help create memories for families and get our youngest minds excited about reading.”
The statewide launch of Illinois’ partnership with the Dollywood Foundation was announced Tuesday. The state will provide $1.6 million to the project in order to support early childhood learning and encourage life-long reading habits, Governor JB Pritzker announced at the launch held at the Bloomington Public Library.
“I couldn’t be prouder to announce that Illinois is beginning its journey to provide every child under the age of five an opportunity to sign up and have a free book delivered to their house every month,” said Governor Pritzker. “Research shows that early literacy makes a big difference for our youngest learners when it comes to developing language and social skills. It's one of the many reasons my administration allocated funding in FY24’s historic budget to make this partnership possible—furthering our transformative early childhood education goals.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is currently active in areas across 40 counties in Illinois and is expected to cover the entire state fully. To check to see if a program is available in your area, visit the ‘find my program’ page on www.imaginationlibrary.com. You can enroll your child or sign up to be notified when a program comes to your community.
Grant Opportunities
More information on these funding opportunities can be found here.