Have you heard of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library? This program is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, no matter the family’s income. This is made possible through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners, and the Greene County Public Library Foundation is proud to be one of those partners! They have had the pleasure of partnering with this program since 2013, and have seen the great impact it has had on the Greene County community.

Over 14,000 children have enrolled in this program in Greene County since the partnership began, and currently over 5,000 Greene County children receive a new book every month! At the end of this year, they will surpass more than 500,000 total books delivered in our community alone. It’s easy to see the incredible impact this has on our children and community, so it’s imperative to keep up this outstanding work.

Part of how the Greene County Public Library Foundation makes this partnership possible through their yearly event, Raise a Glass to Reading. This is a night for community members to come together to raise money for the Imagination Library, and give children of Greene County the opportunity to find confidence and a sense of self worth through reading, as well as prepare them for entering Kindergarten. The money that is raised during this event directly funds the enrollment of Greene County children in the Imagination Library and covers the cost of the books and shipping fees.

This year’s event was definitely a success, raising $14,150! This amount alone will be able to support 113 Greene County children throughout their entire five year enrollment in the program, with one book being mailed to them every month. On behalf of Greene Giving and the Greene County Public Library Foundation, we thank our neighbors in the community for their generosity and vision.

To make a donation to the Greene County Library Foundation to help fund their partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, visit GreeneLibraryFoundation.DonorTools.com.