Anderson District Five participates in ‘imagination library’ program

ANDERSON, S.C. (WSPA) – Anderson District Five received a $10,000 donation for students to have a book every month from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program started nearly 30 years ago, thanks to the country music icon’s love for reading and passion to give away books to young children.

“It serves from birth to five years old,” said district Assistant Superintendent Kyle Newton. “There’s no income limitations or anything like that but the goal of the program is to get books into the hands of children.”

When Anderson District Five became a recipient years ago, they said 130 students had a free book mailed to their house.

Now, it’s 550.

“I know the kids enjoy going to the mailbox and getting it themselves and then reading it with their parents. It’s a great program and exciting for people. It’s something I think everybody can get behind,” said Newton.

Amy Sanderson, a reading coach with Whitehall Elementary, said reading with your child for at least 20 minutes a day after school can boost creativity, vocabulary and comprehension.

“The more you read, a lot of times the smarter you are because you’ve got reading in math, you’ve got to read in science, you gotta know how to read for social studies,” Sanderson explained. “Reading encompasses everything that you’re going to do in school and outside in your adult life.”

The district said reading at school and at home can help fight the loss of learning that may have occurred over the summer.

“It shows the importance and encourages parents and guardians to sit down and read with their child,” Newton said. “They know this book is coming and they took the initiative to seek it out, so there’s a little bit of investment on their end.”

Since the program kicked off, district leaders said they’ve noticed students getting better at relating images back to the story and following along the story with their finger.

“It’s okay for you to read to them too because it’s great for them to hear an adult reading the rise and fall of the voice, hearing how to pronounce those longer multisyllabic words and talking about vocabulary,” said Sanderson.

The district is still accepting participants. Sign up here to receive a monthly free book.

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