About

Dear Parents and/or Guardians,

Due to recent budget cuts, we regret to inform you that the Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns counties (ELC) will no longer be able to provide free books for your children via the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) program as of June 2011.

Unfortunately, this means the most recent book you received from DPIL is the final one.

We are happy to have had the opportunity to deliver more than 108,000 books to children and families in the community over the course of the program. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program succeeded in providing books to more than 80% of the eligible children in Putnam & St. Johns counties. In collaboration with local libraries, the Early Learning Coalition has hosted numerous Toddler Fests, early literacy events with volunteer storytellers, character visits, crafts and activities to hundreds of children at local libraries.

It is our hope that this program has helped foster a love of books and provided some early literacy skills for you and your child.  Here is a list of other early learning resources so you can continue to encourage your little one to read and to care for your baby or toddler:

• Early Learning Coalition of Putnam & St. Johns Counties: www.elcpsj.org
• St. Johns County Public Libraries:  www.sjcpls.org
• Putnam County Public Libraries: www.putnam-fl.com
• School Readiness: http://elcpsj.org/school-readiness-programs/
• St. Johns County Head Start Program: www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/grants/headstart/
• Putnam County Head Start Program: http://www.putnam.k12.ga.us/pcpk/

As always, we trust that you will continue to read to your children and encourage you to take advantage of the many books available at your local libraries.

If you know of an organization or community group interested in running Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library locally, please contact Dawn Bell at 386-328-8225 x204 or via email dbell@elcpsj.org.

- Sincerely,

Dawn Bell and the ELC Staff

Want to keep it going?

We can’t offer you free books in the mail, nor is the Imagination Library program set up to “order” books. It must be supported by a local community.

But…we know you have enjoyed the program and may want to keep the monthly fun happening at your house. One suggestion would be to go to places that have inexpensive used books for sale and create your own day each month to either wrap or put in a box by the door a surprise book that you have placed inside! {Please do not leave books in the mailbox unless you have mailed them to yourself.}

Ideas for finding inexpensive books include:

• ·         local library book sales
• ·         thrift stores
• ·         garage sales
• ·         used book stores
• ·         book swap with a friend
• ·         online sites like Amazon or eBay have highly discounted books
• ·         For more ideas, Visit Free Children’s Books

We will still send you free tips and event information

We want to stay in touch with our Imagination Library community, but we understand if you don’t want to receive fun tips and events, links to child care information and things like that. If so, just unsubscribe at the bottom and we will do our best to make sure we don’t send you anything you don’t want. But we will miss you!

Please also visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/elcpsj as we won’t be active on the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library page any more. Same good content, but new place. Thanks!

“I am vested in the future of my children, my community and the larger community of our country. Literacy holds the key to meeting personal potential. Individuals can not achieve that without the foundation of literacy. It is important to foster it at every turn, in our nurseries, families, childcare facilities, schools, churches, libraries, correctional settings—everywhere. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library recognizes on a fundamental level the integral part homes and families play in supporting literacy and fosters it in a supportive way at a critical developmental time and in a genuinely giving and open manner.”

- Diana Wasson, parent

This page has the following sub pages.

• Little Readers