Elkins, WV – The Davis Medical Center Auxiliary (DMC) is partnering with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts to provide children’s books to new families. The free program will be offered to families who deliver in the DMC Family Birthing Center.
Through the Imagination Library, children born after January 1, 2014 from Randolph and Tucker counties receive an age appropriate, high-quality book each month until their fifth birthday. The first book is “The Little Engine That Could”.
Valerie Bright, Director of Volunteer Services said connecting to these families early is key to the success of the program.
“The Auxiliary is thankful to offer this program and for the opportunity to work with the Family Birthing Center and our other partners. It’s exciting to nurture a love of reading for children beginning at birth,” she said.
The Imagination Library program was founded in 1996 by award-winning country music singer and songwriter Dolly Parton for preschool children in Tennessee. The goal was to guarantee access to books and to inspire parents to read to their children as much as possible.
The program has been available in West Virginia since 2007 when it was introduced in six counties. Since then, it has been launched in numerous other counties with the goal of expanding to all 55 counties.
“Making time to read to your children is a wonderful bonding experience and helps set them on a track to be lifelong learners with a love of reading,” said Bright.