FREDERICK, MD – June 8, 2021: Grants from The Community Foundation of Frederick County and United Way of Frederick County are providing support to the Frederick County Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program.
The national Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five regardless of their family’s income. Frederick County’s participation in the program began in 2018 through a Striving Readers grant provided to Frederick County Public Schools. As of February 2021, 396 children are Dolly Parton readers in Frederick County, enrolled through programs focused on low-income families: the Judy Centers at Lincoln, Waverley, Hillcrest and Butterfly Ridge Elementary Schools; Family Partnership of Frederick County; Head Start; Healthy Families Frederick; and the Housing Authority of the City of Frederick.
A grant from The Jean Ellis and Florence Guss Memorial Fund, a component fund of the Community Foundation, and a gift from The Marion P. Lee Trust to the United Way of Frederick County is supporting the Frederick County Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program and will help it continue to serve local families. The program helps parents develop their important role as teacher and spend more time in conversation with their child. Children also build a connection to the written word and stories and an early confidence in learning and thinking – critical skills for their first forays into language arts, math, and writing.