EVERETT — Calling all kids under age 5! Free books could be yours, courtesy of United Way of Snohomish County and Dolly Parton.
United Way and the queen of country music want young children to be literate, so they’re offering one free book per month to every kid under age 5 in Snohomish County.
United Way announced the partnership during its annual fundraiser this June, and within three days, registration jumped to 1,500 children across Snohomish County.
“The day a child is born, they can sign up to have books delivered straight to their home,” said Brittany Williams, the director of communication for United Way of Snohomish County. “The goal is that the kids will be prepared for kindergarten — that they’ll be at the literacy level that is expected.”
In 1995, Parton founded a nonprofit called Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The nonprofit works with publishers to buy children’s books at wholesale prices. Then, they work with U.S. Postal Service to get a reduced mailing rate through their nonprofit to mail the books directly to children.
For the kids to receive the books, however, they must be in a sponsored area. To be sponsored, a local organization must partner with the Imagination Library and agree to pay the $2.10 cost per child per month.
Before United Way stepped in, only four school districts in Snohomish County had partnered with the imagination library: Arlington Education Foundation, Lake Stevens Education Foundation, Monroe Public Schools Foundation and Stanwood-Camano Rotary Club. If a child outside of those districts wanted books, they were placed on a waiting list.
Prior to last week’s launch, there were 1,200 kids on the waiting list in Snohomish County. Now, the wait is over.
“We want to ensure that every kid living in Snohomish County, regardless of income, has access to books,” Williams said.
Improved child literacy can change lives, Williams said.
Students who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma than proficient readers, according to a study of nearly 4,000 students nationally.
“This is so much bigger than just having books at home,” Williams said. “It seems like something everyone has access to, but when you don’t it changes a child’s whole trajectory in life.
Every month, the Imagination Library sends specially pre-selected, age-appropriate titles. Each book is personalized with the child’s name, creating a gifting experience that officials hope will make books exciting and show children that someone is thinking of them. They also have bilingual options.
To register, parents need only go online to the “Find My Program” page of the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library website, enter your Snohomish County zip code and follow the steps to register through United Way. Within eight weeks, the books will begin arriving — addressed to the child.
Once kids hit 5, children “graduate” from the program and received a special video from the queen of county music herself.
United Way is committed to sponsoring all kids of Snohomish County indefinitely.
“We emailed all the kids on the wait list, and man oh man, boy did it take off,” Williams said. “It’s unreal.”
Kayla J. Dunn: 425-339-3449; kayla.dunn@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @KaylaJ_Dunn.
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