Colquitt County Education Foundation board chair Judd Lasseter presents a $12,000 check to Colquitt County Schools Superintendent Ben Wiggins and director of student support initiatives Dr. Nicholas Chastain to grow the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program.

MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County Educational Foundation (CCEF) board of directors voted unanimously at its August meeting to fund Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for the Colquitt County Board of Education’s local affiliate service area through the end of 2023. The Foundation’s $12,000 commitment will aim to provide more than 5,000 age-appropriate books, free of charge, to participating children over the next four months.

“I actually got chills a few times sitting in the CCEF meeting and hearing the board’s enthusiasm for this program,” said Dr. Nicholas Chastain, director of student support initiatives with the Colquitt County School System. “I’ve wanted to promote the Imagination Library program to as many families as possible but have been hesitant, thinking our efforts may run out of funds. This generous level of support from the Educational Foundation solidifies our community’s commitment to early childhood literacy and allows me to spread the word of the Imagination Library far and wide.”

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age 5, no matter their family’s income. After launching in 1995, the program grew quickly. Books were originally only distributed to children living in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Parton grew up, but the program became such a success that in 2000 a national replication effort was underway. By 2003, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library had mailed one million books. Today, two million books are mailed every month to children across the globe.

Colquitt County’s participation in the Imagination Library program began in December 2021 when Superintendent Ben Wiggins informed Chastain about the program and how many lives it positively affected in a district where Wiggins previously worked. Chastain pursued a community impact grant from the United Way of Colquitt County to get the program off the ground, and numerous other agencies, businesses, and private donors have kept the program solvent over the past two years.

“It’s an exceptional program to offer in our county,” said Wiggins. “There’s just something special about a child receiving a book in the mail addressed directly to them that adds wonder and excitement to the process of learning to read.”

To register for the program, caregivers simply visit the Imagination Library website at www.imaginationlibrary.com and enter the child’s mailing address and birthdate to find their local affiliate. The Colquitt County Board of Education’s local affiliate footprint currently serves children in 33 zip codes spanning all of Colquitt County as well as portions of Thomas, Tift, Mitchell, Cook, and Worth.

“The Colquitt County Educational Foundation is pleased to be able to fund this initiative,” said board chairman Judd Lasseter. “Foundational to CCEF’s mission are efforts to increase literacy rates through innovative educational tools, especially for our youngest learners. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library exposes kids and adults to the world of books and builds a foundation for reading in elementary school and beyond.”

Imagination Library books are available in both English and Spanish, and children can begin receiving one book per year at birth, with a capstone “graduation” book sent upon their fifth birthday.