Rotary Club of LeRoy donates $4,000 to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Perhaps Rotary International’s vision statement says it best: “Together, we see a world where people come together and take action to create lasting change – across the world, in our communities and in ourselves. Rotarians are a collection of doers, and we share a strong sense of purpose. One of our goals is to build the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparities in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults. With the help of a matching grant from Rotary District 7090, The Rotary Club of LeRoy is pleased to announce a $4,000 grant from the Rotary Club of LeRoy to the Richter Family Foundation.
The Richter Family Foundation is the local 501(c)(3) partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for book purchase and delivery. It is thanks to the Imagination library that children can enjoy books from birth to the age of five. Without the program, children might not have access to books in their community. The grant will provide ongoing support for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in LeRoy, NY, which launched in 2020. Each month, 49 children receive free books in the LeRoy Central School District. The grant will fund the purchase of 1,904 books to add up to 109 children to the program at a cost of $2.10 per book.
Since its launch in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the largest early childhood book donation program in the world. The Dollywood Foundation’s flagship program has sent over 100 million free books to Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Imagination Library sends more than 1.4 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to children enrolled from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring them to dream. The impact of the program has been well researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
