Dolly Parton Imagination Library allowing parents to sign up to get a free book a month for children 5 and under

TRAVERSE CITY — March was named the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Enrollment Awareness month by Traverse City Mayor Amy Shamroe.

In collaboration with Books from Birth, they aim to give kids up to the age of 5 a book every month completely free of charge.

Children in Grand Traverse, Antrim, Benzie, Leelanau and Kalkaska counties are eligible to sign up.

“If you want to have parenting success, the best place to start is at the beginning. And babies are born learning geniuses. They can acquire any language that spoken to them in the first three years of their life. So the more words they hear, the more reading they do, the better off they are,” said Bob Robbins, Books from Birth chairman.

The initiative was launched in April 2023, and new parents at Munson can sign up on the spot .