Beginning today, every child between birth up to five years old now has access to enroll in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, as the local organization Friends of the San Juan Island Library completes program coverage for the entirety of San Juan County. The program will be managed locally by the San Juan Island Library Youth Services Manager, Melina Lagios.

Lagios stated, “we are thrilled that Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is available to our island community. Having access to good, quality books for children 0-5 is critical to supporting a child's early literacy skill development. Dolly is a true literacy champion. We are incredibly grateful for her visionary efforts and tireless commitment to helping children of all socio-economic status throughout our nation and local region.”

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library mails high quality, age-appropriate books each month to children from birth to five years old, free to the family. This early literacy program is proven to achieve equitable access to books, increase school readiness, foster a love of reading and books, and improve family engagement.

“I love a good collaboration, and Friends of the San Juan Island Library is the finishing affiliate piece to the puzzle completing Imagination Library coverage in San Juan County, joining existing San Juan County affiliates, Friends of the Orcas Island Library, and Friends of the Lopez Island Library. These amazing nonprofits stepped up to provide free books to early learners for their specific regions of the county, made possible by the incredible funding support of United Way of San Juan County. Together, these entities have brought local children an opportunity to dream, learn, and connect,” stated Brooke Fisher-Clark, Executive Director of Imagination Library of Washington.

Families can register their children for the Imagination Library in San Juan County by visiting www.imaginationlibrarywashington.org.   

The opportunity to enroll children in the Imagination Library is rapidly expanding across the state, onboarding new affiliate organizations to bring this valuable early literacy program to families and children in every Washington county and zip code. Currently, over 45,000 children between birth and five years old are experiencing the magic of a free book each month through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, provided by 38 Washington affiliates. Of the 39 counties in Washington, 31 have full program coverage, six counties have partial coverage, and two counties do not have current program availability, with plans to launch programs in these two counties in March.