Friends of Grand Coulee Library assures free books for kids 0-5 years 

Kids in the Grand Coulee area can now receive a free book in the mail every month until their 6th birthday, courtesy of a partnership between the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and Friends of the Grand Coulee Area Library.

It's one of several ways the local Friends group supports the community and local library branch, according to board President Nancy Carlson, who made a presentation on behalf of the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization at the Grand Coulee City Council meeting Feb. 20.

"The Friends of the Library were contacted by Washington's Dolly Parton Imagination Library," Carlson told the council. "We were excited to accept their invitation to become an affiliate." 

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library was started in 1995 by the renowned Tennessee-born country artist, and now operates throughout the United States, Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Australia. The program partners with nonprofit affiliates, organized by zip code, to mail one book a month to all participating children from birth through age 5 - up to 72 books per child. The books are selected by a committee of early childhood literacy experts, and nonprofit affiliates cover the cost of the books and postage.

In the local area, with several towns and zip codes, and four counties, multiple nonprofit groups ensure every child in the region is covered. Friends of the Grand Coulee Area Library covers Grand Coulee and Electric City zip codes. Coulee Dam, Elmer City, and Nespelem are covered by child development organizations in their respective counties. 

That's all handled on the back end though, and parents need only enter their children's mailing address and zip code to sign up online at ImaginationLibraryWashington.org.

As of the council meeting there were 34 children participating in Grand Coulee and Electric City zip codes. 

"And we're growing, because Susan just linked up two more recently," Carlson said, referring to Susan Kennedy, the group's treasurer. Since its inception, the Imagination Library has gifted nearly 227 million books around the world.

Although this started locally last spring, the Friends are still working to get the word out to register Coulee area families. Sometimes this happens at community fairs and bazaars, where they are accompanied by a figure who often attracts a crowd: a life-size cardboard cutout of Dolly herself, which the Friends group won through Imagination Library Washington.

"We register them however we can," Carlson said. "We were more than delighted to take this on."

According to Carlson, the Friends of the Grand Coulee Area Library currently pays about $32 a month to cover the books and postage.

"But obviously that's going to go up as we get more children, so that's one of the things we're raising money for," she added.

Fundraisers will become more frequent as the weather warms, including an anticipated revival of the popular Garden Tour in late June. 

According to the Imagination Library website, Dolly Parton was inspired by her father to start the program, since he never learned to read. The local volunteers are on the same page.

"Most of our members are former educators," Carlson said of the Friends group. "So we're very concerned about reading and what it does to help our kids especially. We know that this program will encourage the children to become early readers. We know it will help them with literacy. But the books also have hints for modeling good educational experiences, such as teaching and learning practices, predicting, and storytelling. It helps connect parents and kids."

In addition to work with the Imagination Library, Friends of Grand Coulee Area Library members give time and treasure to the local library and patrons, volunteering at events, recruiting local speakers to talk to youth about career options, finding grants for new equipment, and even purchasing Kindles as prizes for the summer reading program.

The mission of the Friends of the Grand Coulee Library is to provide financial and organizational support to the Grand Coulee Library in order to sustain and expand its literary, educational and community enrichment programs.