Read full story here: https://www.wjbf.com/news/dolly-partons-imagination-library-continues-in-edgefield-county/
EDGEFIELD COUNTY, S.C. (WJBF) — Dolly Parton’s impact is reaching children right here in the CSRA.
The Imagination Library sends children from birth to age five one free book every month. Edgefield County First Steps helps make that happen there. For a child enrolled from birth, that’s 60 books by kindergarten.
“If a child doesn’t have access to see the pictures, have a parent read to them, associated the love from the parent with the love of reading, they will struggle in school and they will be behind their peers from the beginning,” Executive Director, Edgefield County First Steps Candi Lalonde said.
The first is The Little Engine That Could. The fifth-year book is Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come. Both include a personal letter from Dolly.
“Dolly was very, very adamant that this be accessible to every child who is age eligible,” she added.
305 Edgefield County children are enrolled. More than 43,000 books have been mailed since 2005. The Dollywood Foundation selects the books and covers overhead. For $30, donors can provide a child with 12 books for a year.
“The great thing is you don’t have to go anywhere. It’s mailed directly to the home. The child can go to the mailbox and get their own book out,” she shared.
Lalonde also got to hear Dolly speak at an Imagination Library conference in Tennessee.
“She was just as personable and just full of joy and radiated light that you see on TV. She just really was a really warm person. Just felt like I’d lost a friend or a family member.”
Dolly was known as the “book lady.” Lalonde says she’s been called the same in Edgefield County. And she’s seen the impact firsthand.
“I have actually left a facility and then gone back later that day and seen a child sitting down reading the book that I just brought. And it’s the best feeling ever,” she recalled.
And while Dolly is gone, her work continues.
“The program will go on. That was what Dolly always wanted,” she said.
Parents can sign their children up through Edgefield County First Steps at 803-275-0800, on Facebook, or at edgefieldfirststeps.org.
To find a local group: https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability
Edgefield County First Steps 