A local installment of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is being sought for Gloucester County to boost reading scores, prepare rising kindergarteners for the school readiness test and spark imagination in young children.
Imagination Libraries mail one book each month to children from birth until their fifth birthday at no cost to families. These programs seek to expose children to books before they begin school, develop their vocabulary and reading skills, and foster a love of reading.
Lynda Harrill, vice president of QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia, is trying to bring the Imagination Library to every community in Virginia.
“I’m going after every county in the state,” she said.
The commonwealth funds 50 percent of the cost of the program. Harrill is seeking a local nonprofit to partner with the Dollywood Foundation to raise funds, market and administer the program locally in Gloucester.
The first steps to implement a local program include identifying a local 501(c)(3) partner a...