Dolly Parton program brings monthly free books to 6,700 Hartford children
Hartford resident Rossie Alcantra receives a free book in the mail each month to read to her 2-year old son Noah.
Alcantra, who is from Peru, is also learning English along with her son and the books allow for both quality bonding time and learning.
The free books are all part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a book-gifting program that mails books to children from birth until they turn 5 years old, no matter their family’s income.
“I love this program,” Alcantra said with the help of a translator at a press conference in Hartford on Tuesday. “I’m proud to be in this program because I know my son will be prepared to go to school.”
Alcantra’s son is one of more than 6,700 children enrolled in the program in Hartford who get a free age-appropriate book each month.
“Seventy percent of the young people in Hartford who were born since this program launched have enrolled in the Imagination Library. We want to get that number up to 100 percent,” Mayor Luke Bronin said. “That’s an amazing opportunity for families to build libraries and for kids to have books to first explore pictures and then grow as readers and to develop a joy of reading to pass on to their siblings.”
The Imagination Library is possible through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local communities. While Parton and her Dollywood Foundation cover many of the overhead costs and administration needs, the local programs secure the funding for the cost of books and postage.
Connecticut Children’s and the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut have both partnered to implement the program in the city. More than 80,000 books have been distributed to Hartford children since the program began in the fall of 2020.
“It’s an amazingly powerful thing to have a library in a home,” Bronin said. “It’s a powerful way to build a lifelong love for reading and learning.”
The program first started in Parton’s hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1995 but has since expanded across the world with over 2 million children registered and over 200 million books donated.
“My journey started about 15 years ago when I was the president of the children’s hospital at Vanderbilt University and we were sitting in a conference room wondering what we could do to help children in their physical, emotional and social development,” said Dr. James Shmerling, president and CEO of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. “We found it wasn’t a drug but something much less expensive and much more in abundance and that’s books.”
That’s when Shmerling found out about Parton’s program and began advocating for a statewide program in Tennessee.
“So when I came to Hartford, I thought the children here deserved the same access to these books,” Shmerling said. “I think we will see over the next five or 10 years what a tremendous investment this will be for these kids and how much better their performance will be.”
Shmerling said that evidence shows that reading provides a host of benefits for children’s brain development.
“We know that billions of brain synapses are connecting from when a baby is born to when they’re 5 years old,” Shmerling said “Our pediatric experts know that reading at an early age is critical for brain development and future academic success. We are proud to be one of the partners to bring this project to Connecticut, and with the support of United Way, make sure we all commit to the healthy development of our children.”
“With our partners we hope to expose children to the joy of reading as early as possible to pave the way for academic success. Reading is one of the best habits our children can develop,” said Michael Goldbas, United Way Advocacy Committee chairman.
A bill has been introduced in the state’s General Assembly that would expand the Imagination Library program statewide for all children from birth to age 5.
“We hope Connecticut will be the 16th state to fund a statewide Imagination Library,” Goldbas said. “United Way has proved capable of making this program work effectively for the benefit of our children, but a continued investment would help to ensure its sustainability in Hartford and statewide. We know we can’t do this work alone and so it requires all sectors, public and private, to make sure we can provide this valuable opportunity for our children.”
California became the latest state to launch Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program statewide.
Books from the Imagination Library are available in both Spanish and English.
Residents can check their eligibility and enroll at unitedwayinc.org/our-work/youth-success/imagination-library.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com