Imagination Library Fills a Gap

Entertainer Dolly Parton set up the Imagination Library Program 8 years ago in order to provide free books for children under age 5. The goal is to encourage parents and others to read to pre-K kids. Although there are currently 300 communities participating in 36 states, the Memphis-Shelby County area in Tennessee, has been slow to catch on. The Governor of Tennessee is hoping to change that. Shelby county presents a particular challenge, however, because it is home to 18 percent of the state’s population of pre-K children. Officials estimate it would take 5 years to register all 68,427 kids under age 5. Read More.

July 8, 2004 by Uncategorized 1

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1 Response

  1. GregS* says:
    July 8, 2004 at 10:55 pm

    Bull
    [As Bredesen put it: “I have no greater priority as governor than to educate our young people and this program is a great first step.”]

    Libraries aren’t a first step?

    [Imagination Library does more than just throw more taxpayer money at a familiar problem, though.

    Each community that joins the program must match state funding dollar for dollar with contributions from individuals or groups.

    A local umbrella organization must be set up to raise private donations and enroll new families into the program.

    The umbrella organization could be established by local government, one of the school systems or a nonprofit group.

    In Knox County, the program will be administered through the county’s library system.]

    So not only will this tie up tax dollars it will also tie up community dollars as well. Will the same businesses that helped fund this program still be willing to fund all the other programs libraries offer? Our library has 12 museum passes for public use all payed for through Family Friends fund raising, plus special event programming, plus summer reading programs. How many times can we go to the same trough?

    [Jackson, president of the Governor’s First Books Foundation, estimates it would take five years to register 80 percent of the eligible children here.

    “It’s going to take an army of volunteers in Shelby County to accomplish this,” Jackson said.]

    Another valuable commodity out the window.

    That the Knox library system is willing to sacrifice time and energy for this shows a lack of identity and purpose.

    Reply

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