For the Friends of the Lisbon Public Library and their participation in the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, it has been a whirlwind year.
The Lisbon affiliate program has 90 children participating, with 11 children who have graduated from the Imagination Library in 2022. These 101 kids represent more than half of the last census count of Lisbon’s children aged infant to 5-years-old. That’s 101 kids who have received books every month, since enrolling in the program, of age-appropriate material for them to read.
The Friends of the Lisbon Public Library’s Imagination Library was also identified as project of the year by the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group.
“Of course, being recognized feels wonderful, but being recognized by this civic group is an honor,” said Michelle Platt, member of the Friends. “For the Imagination Library to be recognized for the value it brings to our current children–as present-day children and as future adults–is big. Research supports the notion a good reading habit developed early in life offers lifetime benefits. These benefits further not only individuals, but communities.”
Platt noted the Friends receive financial donations and help from many different organizations in support of the Lisbon affiliate program, including Alliant Energy, the City of Lisbon, Lisbon Community Schools, area churches, area banks and other area businesses, as well as many individuals in the community.
“This program is a feel-good kind of program,” Platt said. “The outpouring of support from the community has been great.”
If a child lives in the Lisbon zip code and is not enrolled, there are numerous ways to get them into the program. The first is just visiting the Lisbon Public Library, where parents can be provided with the information sheets they need to fill out.
The Friends of the Lisbon Public Library will also be helping to enroll children in the program at the ice cream social as part of the Lisbon Sauerkraut Days festivities. There will also be a booth outside of the Lisbon library following the Sauerkraut Days parade. There are no costs to parents for the program, which mails a new book to children once a month for the entire year until children age out of the program at age 5.
And while Lisbon’s program is only open to residents in the Lisbon 52253 zip code, Platt said other communities participate in the program as well and other affiliate region libraries can be checked and requests made at imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability.
The Friends of the Lisbon Public Library project they can support the program for the next five years out, and the group plans to keep a five-year plan allowing every child who starts the program to complete the program.
“Our Friends group has and continues to work extremely hard with the support of our communities, friends and families to raise required funds to pay for this program for every child presently enrolled until they graduate on their 5th birthday,” Platt said. “If the Lisbon Friends reach a point where sustaining the program does not look feasible, our fundraising plan will sustain any present enrollees through the remainder of their program eligibility.”
Funding is one of the biggest needs for the program. To fully enroll every student in the program will cost roughly $5,000 a year, with each child enrolled at an estimated cost of $25.
“The Lisbon affiliate costs are for local costs—for the purchase of books and their shipping every month directly to each enrolled child,” Platt said. “The Dollywood Foundation pays for the program’s worldwide administration which now reaches over 2 million children. Their costs include the administration around the books, the website, promotional materials—like the Dolly Parton cut-out some will have seen and will see at Sauerkraut Days events.”
The Dollywood Foundation also ensures solid research goes into selecting which age-appropriate books will be provided to children each year.
There are also dreams of expansion for the project in the future. The Friends rely on limited assistance from Lisbon Public Library staff. Planning and managing enrollments of children into the program and fundraising are fully supported by volunteers, whereas other larger organizations hire staff to support the program.
If Iowa were to make the Imagination Library a statewide program, that will reduce the costs for affiliation in the program by about half. A statewide program requires support from state legislators to make it a reality.