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Lake Erie County Imagination Library Mails 1 million books to kids

Words by Tess Becker

Reading and learning are incredibly important in every station of life but especially so in childhood. Not every kid has access to consistent reading though, either unable to afford new books or too far from a resource like a library to check out free ones. 

To address this the Imagination Library in Erie County has been mailing free books to kids every month over the last decade. 

Recently they passed the milestone, mailing out over 1 million books to local children. 

“If they start (receiving books) when they're born, by the time they're 5 they have a library of 60 books,” said Laurie Root, president of United Way of Erie County.

What are Imagination Libraries?

Replicating the success that the illustrious Dolly Parton found with the original Imagination Library different ones popped up all around the country following Dolly’s original vision and with her support. 

The Lake Erie County Imagination Library has been around for just under 10 years and has served over 28,000 local children. 

“Research showed children who enrolled in Imagination Library by the time they were in kindergarten had statistical improvements in early literacy skills,” Root said. “We're really setting them up for success in school and in life.”

This article aligns with the UN SDG Reduced Inequalities.

This article aligns with the following UN SDGs

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