(From left) Erika, Claire, Evan and Jarred Jenkins read together at their Hopewell home.
Nearly every night after dinner and the latest episodes of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” the Jenkins family from Hopewell curls up on the couch in their living room to read books. It’s a highlight for 2-year-old Claire and her 12-year-old brother, Evan, who choose several of their favorite titles for their parents, Erika and Jarred, to read aloud.
“We sit together and take turns reading books,” Erika Jenkins says. “We let them take turns picking their books. My son has his favorite ones that he chooses, and Claire mixes it up and picks different things.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, an international early literacy nonprofit founded by country music icon and philanthropist Dolly Parton, is instrumental in bringing the joy of reading to the Jenkins home. Every month, Parton’s nonprofit sends a free book to each of the more than 3 million children enrolled in the program.
Inspired by her father’s struggles with literacy, Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995. “Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” Parton writes on the organization’s website. “He was the smartest man I have ever known, but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.”
The Central Virginia affiliate of the Imagination Library currently reaches 5,050 children in the region. Caregivers may enroll children from birth to age 5. More than 1,400 area children have completed the program.
Imagination Library books first started arriving at area homes in 2023. In partnership with Richmond-based literacy nonprofit Read to Them, the program has expanded to Petersburg, Amelia and Dinwiddie. In August, funding from Petersburg-based Cameron Foundation brought the books to Colonial Heights and Sussex, Prince George and southern Chesterfield counties. Across Virginia, the Imagination Library has reached nearly 90 localities with the help of various funders.
Some of the titles the Imagination Library sends each month
Since reading the Imagination Library books and other favorites regularly, Jenkins has noticed that her children have been building literacy skills. Claire uses new words from her favorite stories, and Evan, who is nonverbal due to an intellectual disability, has grown more responsive during the family’s reading time.
The kids love many of the modern classics of early childhood literature, including “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. and “Madeline’s 123,” which stars Ludwig Bemelmans’ intrepid boarding school student. Some of the books are so beloved, they are worn and taped after countless readings. “Anything that’s really rhyme-y and singsong-y and has that fun tone to it — he just loves all those books,” Jenkins says of Evan, who uses a communication device to indicate that he understands and enjoys the stories.
The long-term educational impact of early literacy education at home motivated the Cameron Foundation to support the Imagination Library. “There’s abundant research to show that investing in early literacy leads to kindergarten readiness and other academic achievements,” says Nadine Marsh-Carter, the foundation’s president, “and it all starts with an activity as simple as someone — a mother, father, grandparent, sister or brother — spending this quality time at home reading to their child.”
Each month, 4-year-old Gia Stubbs excitedly awaits the delivery of the latest Imagination Library book to her home in Church Hill. “If I go to the mailbox, she’s like, ‘Do I have a book yet?’” Gia’s mother, Brandon Ellis, says.
Like the Jenkins family, Brandon and Gia Ellis have a regular evening reading ritual. After bathing and donning her favorite cowgirl pajamas, Gia settles in with her Imagination Library books, and her mother makes the stories come to life with her voice.
“I highlight and emphasize a lot of different things to make it fun for her, from monsters to accents, different animals,” Ellis says. “She thinks that’s funny.”
Gia asks Mom to reread her favorites. “She knows what’s coming, and she’ll tell me before I turn the page,” Ellis says. Anticipatory memorization of books is a key early literacy skill that helps children build familiarity with common words.
“Building her vocabulary has definitely been part of this journey,” Ellis says.
While any caregiver can register their child for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Read to Them aims to bring the program to underserved families. Formerly a paralegal for a public defender in Richmond, Ellis first learned about the initiative through Read to Them’s work to get Imagination Library books to her clients. The program provided Spanish-language children’s books for the large Spanish-speaking population served by the office. “It made them feel welcome, especially in this climate right now,” Ellis says.
Read to Them partners with local departments of social services and nonprofits to register children who are in foster care or experiencing homelessness to receive books from the Imagination Library.
“If we are able to enroll children at birth, receiving a book in the mail every single month until they turn 5 builds a home library of 60 books, which is not something every household would have otherwise,” says Christa Donohue, Read to Them executive director.
Learn more about registering your child with the Imagination Library in Central Virginia.
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