WHAT IS AN IMAGINATION LIBRARY?

​

A STORY OF SUCCESS

​

Started by musician and author Dolly Parton in the USA in 1996, more than 70 million books have since been distributed so far, including 100,000+ books to 7,000+ kids across Australia.​

​

It’s a community based program providing children with free home delivered books and literacy resources each month, from birth until they turn 5. Started by musician and author Dolly Parton in the USA in 1996, more than 70 million books have since been distributed, including more than 140,000 books across Australia.

​

The program is operated by United Way Australia who is the licensee of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Australia. Something About Hugo's role in establishing the Alpine Imagination Library is to be the local community stakeholder managing enrollments, engaging major sponsorship of the program and general fundraising activities.

​

The program is designed to build the literacy and language skills of young children before they start school. Specifically, Imagination Libraries are proving effective in three ways:

​

Parents reading to their children

​

Something as simple as reading to a child from an early age can dramatically improve their literacy skills, so they’re ready to learn to read when they start school and succeed in later life. The research is clear:

• the period from birth to age 5 is critical for brain and language development

• literacy skills do not develop automatically and

• more books in the home = better educational outcomes for children.

​

Children’s engagement with books

​

The program is also building children’s love of books, with children spending more time reading on their own. 

​

Building language and literacy skills

​

Reading activities have a positive impact on early literacy and learning skills.

​

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

​