With the financial support of the Rasmuson Foundation, ConocoPhillips Alaska, The CIRI Foundation, and the Alaska Dept of Education & Early Development, Best Beginnings is helping communities around Alaska create or expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in their areas.

Founded by Dolly Parton to encourage children to read, Imagination Library mails a high quality, age-appropriate book each month to children from birth to age 5 who enroll within their community, regardless of their family income. The cost to the child is free. Find out how to enroll your child.

• Best Beginnings: provides matching funds and technical assistance to communities that wish to start their own Imagination Libraries. Review Best Beginnings Request for Proposal for Imagination Library Expansion.
• The communities: raise funds, promote the program, register the children, and enter information into the database.
• The Dollywood Foundation: manages the system and mails the books

Forty-eight Alaska communities currently participate in Imagination Library through 18 Imagination Libraries under the Best Beginnings umbrella. They include Anchorage, Brevig Mission, Fairbanks North Star, Greater Kenai/Soldotna, Hoonah, Juneau/Southeast Alaska, Koliganek, Kuskokwim, Mat-Su, Nanwalek, Nome, Old Harbor, Seward/Moose Pass, Tatitlek, Unalkleet, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, and Upper Tanana. (View on map)

• They will register more than 14,453 children, 29% of Alaska’s children under 5.
• The cost to provide a book a month to one child for one year is $30.
• With individual donations, we can give even more Alaska children the extra boost for success in school. Make a donation.

During 2010, new Alaska communities will be joining the Imagination Library roster under a round of grants funded by both the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (DEED) and by the Rasmuson Foundation.

In February 2010, UAA researchers completed an evaluation study of Imagination Library demonstrating that children participating in the program for at least one year are more enthusiastic about reading, are read to more often, are perceived by parents to be better prepared for kindergarten, and live in homes with more children’s books. Review study results.