Room To Read
Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing
world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure.
We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief
that education is a lifelong gift that empowers people to ultimately
improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities,
countries, and future generations. Through the opportunities that
only an education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of
poverty, one child at a time.
To learn more about Room to Read or to make a donation, please CLICK
HERE
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting
new effort to benefit the children of her home county in east
Tennessee. Dolly wanted to foster a love of reading among her
county’s preschool
children and their families. She wanted children to be excited
about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover,
she could insure that every child would have books, regardless
of their family’s income.
So she decided to mail a brand new, age
appropriate book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier
County. With the arrival of every child’s first book, the classic The Little Engine
That Could ™, every child could now experience the joy of
finding their very own book in their mail box. These moments continue
each month until the child turns 5—and in their very last
month in the program they receive Look Out Kindergarten Here I
Come.
Needless to say the experience has been a smashing success. So
much so that many other communities clamored to provide the Imagination
Library to their children. Dolly thought long and hard about it
and decided her Foundation should develop a way for other communities
to participate. The Foundation asked a blue ribbon panel of experts
to select just the right books and secured Penguin Group USA to
be the exclusive publisher for the Imagination Library. Moreover
a database was built to keep track of the information.
Consequently, in March of 2000 she stood
at the podium of The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
and revealed the plan for other communities to provide the Imagination
Library to their children. And as only Dolly can say it, she
wanted to “put her money
where her mouth is – and with such a big mouth that’s
a pretty large sum of money” and provide the books herself
to the children of Branson, Missouri and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – communities
where her businesses now operate. If other leaders in their communities
were willing to do the same, well something big might just happen.
You know what? It did!!
To learn more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
or to make a donation, please CLICK
HERE
FIRST BOOK
First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission:
to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read
and own their first new books. We provide an ongoing supply of
new books to children participating in community-based mentoring,
tutoring, and family literacy programs.
First Book was founded in 1992. The First Book model was developed
to leverage the work of local heroes who reach children through
existing literacy programs in a variety of settings, such as Head
Start centers, libraries, soup kitchens, churches, housing projects,
and afterschool initiatives. Working through this vast network
of organizations, First Book plays a critical role in transforming
the quality of preschool and after-school programs nationwide.
First Book's model is national in scope and local in impact. In
our first year, First Book distributed approximately 12,000 books
in three communities. Since that time, First Book has distributed
more than 50 million books to children in over 3,000 communities
around the country.
In our first decade, First Book converted a promising distribution
concept into a premier national literacy organization. During this
initial phase of development, First Book experienced a nearly vertical
growth curve and established a broad range of strategic corporate,
government, and nonprofit partnerships. The success of this phase
has enabled the organization to build a national reputation and
establish the foundation for long-term growth and development.
First Book now is poised to enter a new stage of development that
includes new national initiatives and international expansion.
Through its committed staff, heroic local Advisory Board volunteers,
and a strong national Board of Directors and Advisory Council,
First Book has accomplished its initial goals and has verified
the impact of our work through an extensive evaluation performed
by Louis Harris.
Through our success, we have established credibility in the literacy,
governmental, and corporate arenas and built a strategic set of
alliances that have positioned First Book to reach an unlimited
number of children and communities in the coming years.
To learn more about First Book or to make a donation, please CLICK
HERE |
