Imagination Library

United Way of Southwest Minnesota sponsors the Imagination Library program for people who live in our service area.  To participate in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in this area of southwest Minnesota, families must live in one of the following school districts:  Balaton, Canby, Lake Benton, Lakeview, Lincoln-Hendricks-Ivanhoe, Lynd, Marshall, Milroy, Minneota, Murray County Central, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Tracy, Walnut Grove-Westbrook, or Yellow Medicine East.  Private and charter schools are included.

 

Educators have emphasized the fact that reading with a preschool child is the single most important activity to help prepare a child for school.  The Dolly Parton Imagination Library was created to guarantee access to books and to inspire parents to read to their children as much possible.

 

United Way of Southwest Minnesota is sponsoring Imagination Library in this area so that every child (ages 0 - 5th birthday) who is enrolled will receive an age and developmentally appropriate book each month at home.  The books are free for each child and every child is included as long as they live within one of the school districts within our service area.

 

Facts About Reading and Young People

• 35% of children arrive at kindergarten unprepared to learn.
• Interaction with his/her environment is a key factor in determining the ease with which a child will learn to read.
• The more words a child hears the larger the child's vocabulary.  The larger the child's vocabulary the more likely he/she will be a proficient reader.
• A 1991 study showed that parents who were given books by their doctors were four times more likely to read and share them with their children.
• Reading to your baby encourages the child to associate reading with love and comfort.
• The more you talk and read to your baby the quicker the child will learn.
• The report of the commisson on reading states that "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children."
• The key to proficiency in reading is to start early.  Begin reading to your child the day he/she is born.