June 13, 2024 – Forsyth County
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Expands in North Carolina with New Bilingual Book Collection
Forsyth Families Can Sign-up with Smart Start of Forsyth County and DPIL to Receive a Bilingual Book Each Month Starting in June
RALEIGH, NC — The North Carolina Partnership for Children is excited to announce a significant expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) program in North Carolina with the introduction of a new bilingual book collection.
DPIL has fostered a love of reading among children aged birth-to-five by delivering specially selected books to their homes each month since 2017. DPIL is available in every county in North Carolina through the Smart Start Network. Currently, the program reaches 12,632 children birth to age five in Forsyth County.
Beginning Immediately, June 13, 2024, registered families can choose between two library book collections—an English collection or a fully bilingual English/Spanish collection.
·English Collection – Primarily English books with an occasional bilingual English/Spanish book.
·Bilingual English/Spanish Collection – Exclusively bilingual English/Spanish books.
This change helps DPIL and Smart Start of Forsyth County provide equitable access to high-quality children’s literature for Spanish-speaking families across the state.
“The addition of fully bilingual English/Spanish Imagination Library books is a great option for Spanish-speaking families that provides more equitable access to the program. It moves us closer to helping inspire all children to love reading through the gift of Imagination Library books,” says Jeff Conyers, President of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
“Curating a bilingual book collection increase the library’s outreach and impact is a great step forward for the program. The books will further enrich lives, broaden perspectives, and will intentionally foster greater appreciation for cultural heritage. We feel this new addition expands the literary adventure Dolly Parton envisioned for families when she launched the library in 1995. This adventure offers us a new avenue for ensuring diversity and inclusion while planting intellectual and cultural seeds within our community,” says Carrie Pasquale, Chief Strategy Officer of Smart Start of Forsyth County.
Amy Cubbage, President of the North Carolina Partnership for Children, also shared her enthusiasm for the new initiative, “This expansion is another great step towards ensuring that every child in North Carolina has access to quality books that foster the skill and love of reading. We are thrilled to be able to reach more children and honor the diverse languages and cultures that make our communities strong.”
Both collections have been carefully curated by the book selection committee to inspire a love of reading, ensuring that every child can develop strong literacy skills from an early age. While some titles will overlap between the collections, there will be unique books specific to each collection mailed out monthly.
To find out more about Smart Start and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library partnership or to register a child in Smart Start of Forsyth County, please visit www.smartstart-fc.org.
About Smart Start Forsyth County
Smart Start of Forsyth County, is dedicated to serving children and families throughout our community. We are committed to expanding and enhancing services for preschool-aged children and their families, directly impacting the lives of our neighbors and friends. For more information about your local resource, visit Smart Start Of Forsyth County – An equitable early childhood system that fosters an environment for learning, growing, developing, and succeeding. (smartstart-fc.org).
Media Contact: Emily Garcia, [email protected], 336.725.6011
About Smart Start and the North Carolina Partnership for Children
Smart Start is a network of 75 nonprofit local partnerships that serve all 100 North Carolina counties. This network is led by The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) that ensures fiscal and programmatic accountability and coordinates the statewide network to create better outcomes for children and families. For more information about the Network’s partnership with DPIL, visit http://www.smartstart.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library/.
Media Contact: Jessica Carter, [email protected], 919.221.1614
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL)
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program for children from birth to age five. The mission of the program is to foster a love of reading in preschool children and ensure that every child born has books, regardless of their family’s income.
