Rotary Works With Entertainer Dolly Parton to Give Children a Head Start on Reading

Country music legend Dolly Parton and Rotary clubs may seem an unusual pairing, but their shared passion for promoting literacy bridges the pop culture gap.

Rotary International announced a collaboration with Parton's Tennessee-based Dollywood Foundation to promote early childhood reading. Rotary clubs in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are encouraged to support the foundation's Imagination Library program, which provides books to children from birth until age five, so that parents can begin reading to them as soon as possible.

The program is especially valuable for children in underprivileged and working class families for whom children's books might be an unaffordable luxury. Rotary club participation could include promoting the program locally, helping to identify and register the children, and paying for the books and mailings. The average annual cost is $28 per child (CAD$60 in Canada).

"In today's world, literacy is a basic requirement for success in life," says Rotary Foundation Trustee John Germ, of Chattanooga, Tenn. "For decades, Rotary clubs have supported literacy programs for children and adults, and this collaborative relationship will help lift our literacy effort to the next level by promoting early childhood reading."

"Rotarians love kids as much as I do, so I truly believe we can do something extraordinary together to help even more children love to read and succeed," says Parton, who grew up in rural Tennessee, where she witnessed the toll illiteracy can take on families. Research shows that preschoolers exposed to reading do better in school and are more likely to finish high school and go to college. The program also helps to strengthen families by encouraging positive interaction between parents and children.

The Dollywood Foundation sends each child one age-appropriate book a month, beginning with "The Little Engine That Could." Appropriately, the final title is "Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come."

For more information, visit http://www.imaginationlibrary.com