As published in the St. Augustine Record on July 20, 2011.
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
“I think I can, I think I can ….”
It’s the most famous quote from one of the most famous children’s books, “The Little Engine that Could.”
That was also the first book thousands of children in St. Johns and Putnam counties received as part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program, which provided a free book each month to thousands of local children in the first five years of their lives.
The Early Learning Coalition of Putnam & St. Johns Counties ended the program in June because of cuts in state grants.
The coalition’s budget, funded primarily through state grants, was cut by $860,000 this year, said Dawn Bell, executive director of the Early Learning Coalition of St. Johns and Putnam counties.
The end of the program means the loss of an important service to the community, Bell said.
“It encourages parents to work with their children to develop literacy skills,” she said. “It’s a great way to instill literacy at a very early age.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program began in Tennessee in 1996 and eventually expanded to any community that would support it. The goal of the program is to promote literacy by providing a free book each month to children until their fifth birthday.
The Early Learning Coalition joined with the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, the St. Johns County Library and other organizations to bring the program to Putnam and St. Johns Counties in May of 2008.
Flagler Hospital worked in conjunction with the program to sign up an estimated 2,000 newborns over the life of the program, Bell said.
This week, though, postcards and emails will be sent to notify parents that their children will no longer receive a free book each month.
The program served 4,000 children in both counties by the time it ended.
But the program doesn’t have to end, according to Joan Whitson, early literacy coordinator with the Early Learning Coalition who oversaw the program. There just isn’t a way for her group to fund it right now, so another organization would have to take it on.
And Whitson hopes someone does, she said.
“So many people have told me how grateful they are for getting the books,” she said, “and that it did help them read more to their kids.”
Resources for free books
Even though the Dolly Parton Imagination Library has stopped giving free books to young children in St. Johns and Putnam counties, there are still ways to get free books.
One way is to read children’s books online for free at www.wegivebooks.org. The organization donates a book to a literacy group for every book that someone reads on the site.
Also, public libraries in St. Johns County offer a variety of free programs for children during the summer, as well as thousands of books for children in pre-school and everyone else. For information, go to www.sjcpls.org.
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