Many communities in Kansas don't have the combined power of community partners like United Way and the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library to coordinate a program like Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Start up and continuing costs have often hurt the reading program's chances of even getting off the ground. That's all about to change thanks to a program expansion partnership between the program and the State of Kansas announced earlier this month.
And while this means new programs will have state resources at their fingertips, established Imagination Library programs, like those in Shawnee and Jackson counties, will continue to lean on community partners and donors to keep the books flowing, at least for another year or so. While year one plans call for statewide expansion, they do not include funding for existing programs. Hopes are high for a fundraising match in later phases of the partnership.
In the meantime, you can send a book a month in the mail to a Shawnee County child by donating through your workplace campaign or by making an individual contribution anytime online or by mail. Each year of books for one childs costs around $30 and ensures that local children develop a love of learning and enter kindergarten with strong vocabulary and pre-literacy skills that will help them succeed from day one.
Go to https://unitedwaytopeka.org/read/ to learn more and donate online.
https://imaginationlibrary.com/dolly-partons-imagination-library-is-expanding-across-kansas/