Lenawee Imagination Library delivers milestone number of books this month
The Lenawee Community Foundation is celebrating!
This month marks the delivery of the 200,000th children’s book gifted since the inception in January 2010 of the Lenawee Imagination Library.
We at the foundation are excited to report that the Lenawee Imagination Library program reaches more than 1,600 Lenawee children each year and puts books in their hands and in their homes, and by doing so increases their readiness for school, encourages a love of reading and opens the door to a lifetime of learning.
Research shows that access to printed materials, not poverty, is one of the critical variables affecting reading comprehension, and we hope to help children not only experience the joy of reading, but help them enter school on a level playing field with their peers.
Lenawee Imagination Library books provide a critical opportunity to overcome the odds and build the early literacy and numeracy skills needed to thrive in school and beyond.
Families receive the books free of charge because the Lenawee Community Foundation pays for the books and the delivery. Our partnership with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library gives us great purchasing power, however, the program does not allow us to charge for the books so that all families may receive the books. The books are only $2.50 each delivered, or $30 per child per year. They include high-quality books like “Llama, Llama Red Pajama,” “Goodnight Moon” and “Little Poems for Tiny Ears.”
The total investment of the Lenawee Community Foundation is approximately $40,000 each year. Because foundation funds are committed for specific purposes, we must continue to raise the funds every year for this program.
Do you know that by working together with the Lenawee Community Foundation every preschool child in Lenawee County can receive books? That is just more than 5,000 preschool children! There are two ways: a gift today or a gift in the future. A $30 gift today will cover the cost of 12 books — one each month — for a child for a whole year. You could also consider a gift in your will or trust for the Imagination Library, which would be endowed (invested), and then the earnings would be used every year to buy books for future generations forever.
Every time one of us makes the effort to make a difference in a child’s life we become a champion for our Lenawee children entering our schools ready to read and ready to learn. Join us in our efforts to raise readers.
To learn more about registering a child for the Imagination Library or getting involved with this valuable resource for our children, contact Paula Trentman at 517-263-4696 or via email at paula@lenaweecf.com.
Cynthia Heady is the director of development and external engagement for the Lenawee Community Foundation. She assists individuals, corporations and organizations in fulfilling their charitable goals for the community.