Friday, December 28, 2007
Crossville Chronicle reports Imagination Library seeks local support
Ever heard of a good problem? The folks with the Imagination Library in Cumberland County have.The program began in the county in May 2005. In June 2005, the program was able to send out 123 books to children eligible for the program. In December 2007, 1,426 books were mailed, reaching 56 percent of children eligible in Cumberland County. Since the program came into the community, the Imagination Library has mailed 32,959 books to children registered with the program.According to Julie Shanks of the Imagination Library, that's a larger portion than was anticipated at this point. She said she thought enrollment would have been around 40 percent.That's why Shanks says the Imagination Library needs the support of anyone willing in the community in order for the program to continue reaching children at the same level. Thus far, the amount of children reached monthly has only increased since the program came into Cumberland County.The Imagination Library is available to children from birth to age 5 at no cost to the family. Each book is hardcover and is selected by a panel to suit the child's stage of development.Reaching children in 47 states, with the recent addition of Canada and Great Britain, the Imagination Library has given away 4.5 million books and has had 420,000 children enrolled in the program.The Imagination Library first came about through Dolly Parton. Parton became motivated by the fact that, despite her father being the smartest man she said she ever knew, he was illiterate. Parton wondered about her father's potential had he been able to read.Once Parton became successful, she grew interested in making a difference in children's lives in her hometown of Sevierville, no matter their family's income. In 1996, she established the Imagination Library for the children of Sevier County. There, the Dollywood Foundation funds the program at 100 percent. Cumberland County, however, counts on 50 percent of its support coming from local donors.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Logo Television's Jake...meets Dolly in the UK!
"Islands in the stream, that is what they are..." Jake and Dolly get close! Photo courtesy of Dave King/Eyeworks.tv.Sometimes it seems like all the good TV comes from England. Doctor Who, Ab Fab, Graham Norton... And the Brits seem to crank out endless cool music/rock documentaries, too. On December 26th, folks in the UK get a belated Xmas gift when T4 airs “When Jake Met Dolly” in which “the excitable Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears fulfills a lifelong ambition by meeting his heroine Dolly Parton, the legendary Queen of Country!” Ummm... When do we get to see this Stateside, eh?
In the special, evidently Jake and Dolly hang out in her bedroom, they discuss her life and career and take “an eye-popping winter wonderland walk through her camp-as-Christmas travelling wardrobe.” Not fair! I wanna see...
Evidently Dolly was in England promoting her new tour (her new album Backwoods Barbie is due in February) and launching the UK arm of her children’s charity project, “Imagination Library.” Attagirl, Dora Lee!
Here’s a clip of Jake and Dolly, and there's another after the jump. They talk about gayness and boobs! Fine and dandy...
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
League of Extraordinary Teens in Cleveland, Tennessee
Bradley County now has four members of the League of Extraordinary Teens, a program of the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation in accordance with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
All four League members are students at Walker Valley High School, and are members of that school's Beta Club. They include 10th graders Melani Owens, Bethany Thomason and Joshua Eckelberry, and 12th grader Dani Armstrong.
Armstrong was the first to complete her requirements for League inclusion, and Owens, Thomason and Eckelberry soon followed. Each took on the task of meeting League requirements as a Beta Club project.
A program of the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, the League of Extraordinary Teens is a unique and hands-on statewide initiative seeking to engage Tennesseans ages 13 to 19 in the financial and logistical support of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. League membership requires teens to personally register a minimum of 10 children and raise a minimum of $135 to cover the cost of enrolling those children in their county's Imagination Library for a full year.
In all, these four students raised over $900 and signed up well over the minimum requirement.
“I was so proud to see them take on this project and run with it,” said WVHS Beta Club sponsor Ashley Fox. “It is such a good program to get these books into the hands of pre-school children, and I know that these students feel the same.”
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails a new, age-appropriate, hardcover book every month to children from birth to the time they turn five, at no cost to the family. United Way of Bradley County administers the program locally.
Beta Club members at Walker Valley High School, Bradley Central High School and Cleveland High School worked earlier this year on a project where they were helping sign up children for the program at a home football game. Several children were signed up during that project, and money was also raised then for the program.
“It is wonderful to see these students getting involved in helping us not only sign up children for the Imagination Library and raise funds to help us locally but also to be good spokespersons for the program,” said United Way of Bradley County President and CEO Brenda Abel. “We appreciate Melanie, Brittany, Joshua and Dani, and the other Beta Club members in our community, who have been involved.”
Currently, 208 teenagers representing 36 counties have already been inducted and countless others are creatively working toward membership in the League of Extraordinary Teens. These teen-agers have personally registered more than 2,290 children and personally raised more than $28,645 for their counties’ Imagination Library program. Additionally, nine counties have received donations from local Beta Clubs totaling more than $3,835.
Full Story
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All four League members are students at Walker Valley High School, and are members of that school's Beta Club. They include 10th graders Melani Owens, Bethany Thomason and Joshua Eckelberry, and 12th grader Dani Armstrong.
Armstrong was the first to complete her requirements for League inclusion, and Owens, Thomason and Eckelberry soon followed. Each took on the task of meeting League requirements as a Beta Club project.
A program of the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, the League of Extraordinary Teens is a unique and hands-on statewide initiative seeking to engage Tennesseans ages 13 to 19 in the financial and logistical support of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. League membership requires teens to personally register a minimum of 10 children and raise a minimum of $135 to cover the cost of enrolling those children in their county's Imagination Library for a full year.
In all, these four students raised over $900 and signed up well over the minimum requirement.
“I was so proud to see them take on this project and run with it,” said WVHS Beta Club sponsor Ashley Fox. “It is such a good program to get these books into the hands of pre-school children, and I know that these students feel the same.”
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails a new, age-appropriate, hardcover book every month to children from birth to the time they turn five, at no cost to the family. United Way of Bradley County administers the program locally.
Beta Club members at Walker Valley High School, Bradley Central High School and Cleveland High School worked earlier this year on a project where they were helping sign up children for the program at a home football game. Several children were signed up during that project, and money was also raised then for the program.
“It is wonderful to see these students getting involved in helping us not only sign up children for the Imagination Library and raise funds to help us locally but also to be good spokespersons for the program,” said United Way of Bradley County President and CEO Brenda Abel. “We appreciate Melanie, Brittany, Joshua and Dani, and the other Beta Club members in our community, who have been involved.”
Currently, 208 teenagers representing 36 counties have already been inducted and countless others are creatively working toward membership in the League of Extraordinary Teens. These teen-agers have personally registered more than 2,290 children and personally raised more than $28,645 for their counties’ Imagination Library program. Additionally, nine counties have received donations from local Beta Clubs totaling more than $3,835.
Full Story
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
Barnes & Noble reach out to help support Dolly's Imagination Library
Collaboration = Happy Holidays for everyone! December 14, 2007 07:56 AM
SELCO:
Now that my husband and I have wireless in our house, we have the nasty habit of bringing our laptops into bed with us at night and catching up on all of the daily news, celebrity gossip, and posting activity to our facebook and MySpace pages. Last night, I was catching up on Minnesota news, and I read a snippet in the St. Cloud Times about the United Way partnering with a local Barnes and Noble for a day--when items were purchased at Barnes and Noble while using a special voucher, 10-25% of the purchase price went to the Imagination Library project. While these two organizations are on the larger scale of things, the collaboration between the two during the holidays can be inspirational for every organization, including libraries.
This holiday season, try to collaborate as much as possible with local businesses/organizations to make a positive impact in your community. Partner with the local food bank in your area and make your location a collection hub. Volunteer for an evening at a local shelter. If you are in the Rochester area, get together with other local organizations to bake cookies for the Gift of Life Transplant House and the Ronald McDonald House or take a group field trip the Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital (located within St. Mary's) and read to the little ones who can't make it to the regular story hours at the library. All of the little things count. I have found that every library staff person I have encountered is incredibly passionate about his/her job and is completely devoted to serving the needs of library patrons. This holiday season, let's open our hearts and serve the needs of our entire community. Happy Holidays!
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SELCO:
Now that my husband and I have wireless in our house, we have the nasty habit of bringing our laptops into bed with us at night and catching up on all of the daily news, celebrity gossip, and posting activity to our facebook and MySpace pages. Last night, I was catching up on Minnesota news, and I read a snippet in the St. Cloud Times about the United Way partnering with a local Barnes and Noble for a day--when items were purchased at Barnes and Noble while using a special voucher, 10-25% of the purchase price went to the Imagination Library project. While these two organizations are on the larger scale of things, the collaboration between the two during the holidays can be inspirational for every organization, including libraries.
This holiday season, try to collaborate as much as possible with local businesses/organizations to make a positive impact in your community. Partner with the local food bank in your area and make your location a collection hub. Volunteer for an evening at a local shelter. If you are in the Rochester area, get together with other local organizations to bake cookies for the Gift of Life Transplant House and the Ronald McDonald House or take a group field trip the Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital (located within St. Mary's) and read to the little ones who can't make it to the regular story hours at the library. All of the little things count. I have found that every library staff person I have encountered is incredibly passionate about his/her job and is completely devoted to serving the needs of library patrons. This holiday season, let's open our hearts and serve the needs of our entire community. Happy Holidays!
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Dolly's Imaginaiton Library growing strong in Alaska!
Local Imagination Library celebrates one year of success Approximately 600 children participate in Dolly Parton program
"Dolly Parton grew up in a home without books, and her vision is that all young children will have their very own books," said Robin Bergey, the enrollment coordinator of the program at the Association for the Education of Young Children. "When kids have access to their own books, they are incredibly good at getting an adult to sit down and read with them."
According to Bergey, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of adults reading with children on a daily basis. A survey two years ago of parents of preschoolers showed that only 50 percent of Juneau parents were reading daily with their preschoolers, similar to national statistics. Last month an identical survey found that 76 percent of parents are now reading an average of a book a day or more with their preschoolers.
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program was launched by a literacy task force in December of 2006 with a $9,000 grant from Communities In Schools, which was matched by support from local organizations and individuals. Task force members include AEYC, Communities In Schools, KTOO, United Way of Southeast Alaska, the Juneau Public Library and Tlingit and Haida Head Start.
"Parents reading with children is one of the most important predictors of school readiness," according to Elsa Demeksa, executive director of Communities In Schools, a local organization committed to increasing graduation rates in Juneau.
"A child that can read, is a child that will succeed," Demeksa said. "This program gets right to the heart of the matter - putting books directly into the hands of children and families."
The local match to sponsor a child is $30 per year, for 12 hard cover books tailored to the age of the child.
"A donation in a child's name is a fabulous gift idea for any child" stated Bergey. Due to generous volunteer support, the funds go directly to purchasing the books, which are mailed by the Dollywood Foundation. "This program has proved it works, and now we need to keep the train rolling for a second year," emphasized Demeksa.
The literacy task force invites individuals, businesses, and organizations to be part of this successful effort. Sponsors are recognized by a display at the downtown library. Sponsor forms and enrollment forms are located at the Mendenhall Valley and downtown libraries, on the AEYC Web site at www.aeyc-sea.org or by calling 789-1235.
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"Dolly Parton grew up in a home without books, and her vision is that all young children will have their very own books," said Robin Bergey, the enrollment coordinator of the program at the Association for the Education of Young Children. "When kids have access to their own books, they are incredibly good at getting an adult to sit down and read with them."
According to Bergey, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of adults reading with children on a daily basis. A survey two years ago of parents of preschoolers showed that only 50 percent of Juneau parents were reading daily with their preschoolers, similar to national statistics. Last month an identical survey found that 76 percent of parents are now reading an average of a book a day or more with their preschoolers.
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program was launched by a literacy task force in December of 2006 with a $9,000 grant from Communities In Schools, which was matched by support from local organizations and individuals. Task force members include AEYC, Communities In Schools, KTOO, United Way of Southeast Alaska, the Juneau Public Library and Tlingit and Haida Head Start.
"Parents reading with children is one of the most important predictors of school readiness," according to Elsa Demeksa, executive director of Communities In Schools, a local organization committed to increasing graduation rates in Juneau.
"A child that can read, is a child that will succeed," Demeksa said. "This program gets right to the heart of the matter - putting books directly into the hands of children and families."
The local match to sponsor a child is $30 per year, for 12 hard cover books tailored to the age of the child.
"A donation in a child's name is a fabulous gift idea for any child" stated Bergey. Due to generous volunteer support, the funds go directly to purchasing the books, which are mailed by the Dollywood Foundation. "This program has proved it works, and now we need to keep the train rolling for a second year," emphasized Demeksa.
The literacy task force invites individuals, businesses, and organizations to be part of this successful effort. Sponsors are recognized by a display at the downtown library. Sponsor forms and enrollment forms are located at the Mendenhall Valley and downtown libraries, on the AEYC Web site at www.aeyc-sea.org or by calling 789-1235.
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