Part II
Imagination Library of the Ouachitas through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Foundation will provide a book from the time of registration to the child’s fifth birthday. Children enrolled in this no-cost program receive a new, age appropriate, high-quality book sent to their home each month. The books are selected by a panel of early childhood education experts each year. This funding requested will support 400 children in the 3nd year of this outreach. There are currently over 1400 children who have been signed up for the Imagination Library an increase of over 342 this past year.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is open to all children regardless of income. There is a large body of research on the value and importance of high-quality early education programs especially for disadvantaged kids.
The Dollywood Foundation covers program overheads by providing the custom-built Book Order System and coordinating the book selection, procurement, and fulfillment process. In addition, the Dollywood Foundation purchases the books at a significantly reduced cost. With these contributions, each county is only required to cover the at-cost book and mailing expenses for children registered in their county.
Children enrolled in this no-cost program receive a new, age appropriate, high-quality book sent to their home each month. The books are selected by a panel of early childhood education experts each year. This funding requested will support 400 children in the 3rd year of this outreach. There are currently over 1400 children signed up for this program an increase of over 342 this past year.
The parent or guardian will receive both verbal and written information on the Imagination Library of the Ouachitas program during the WIC certification appointment of newborn infants and their siblings. Help will be given by WIC staff if needed to complete the application. Parents will be informed of their responsibility to notify Imagination Library of the Ouachitas of any change in address to continue receiving books.
These books are personalized with each child’s name and mailed directly to their home to break down barriers of know knowing what age appropriate books to buy or ability to afford books for their children. It also creates and excitement or receiving a book each month and encourages families to spend time enjoying books together.
The School Districts Kindergarten Readiness Testing in both Garland and Montgomery County indicate that 35% of children are not kindergarten ready when they start school. Children less prepared for school at kindergarten are more likely to be held back in school, need special education, and fail to graduate from high school. High-quality early childhood education investments are cost effective strategies for improving academic success.
• General Knowledge — Common information and general facts expected of young children
• Oral Communication — How well a student communicates ideas, describes what has been seen or heard, or asks about things
• Written Language — Recognition and use of written words
• Math Concepts — Understanding and use of beginning mathematical ideas and processes
• Work Habits — Manner in which students seek and respond to learning opportunities
• Attentive Behavior — Ability to sustain focus on classroom activities
The School Districts Kindergarten Readiness Testing in both Garland and Montgomery County indicate that 35% of children are not kindergarten ready when they start school. Children less prepared for school at kindergarten are more likely to be held back in school, need special education and fail to graduate from high school. High-quality educational investments are cost effective strategies for improving academic success. Children develop most of their learning capacity in the first three years of life. Immersing a child in a reading environment at birth increases the child's vocabulary and encourages lifetime of reading and learning. It also builds self-esteem, confidence, tolerance and an appreciation of art.
There is a large body of research on the value and importance of high-quality early education programs especially for disadvantaged kids. In Garland County 27.5%, and Montgomery County 34.2% of children under 18 live in poverty according to U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates 2014.
Footnotes available upon request or on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library site at www.imaginationlibrary.com
Study specific to The Imagination Library
If children are enrolled 4 months or more:
Parent reading to child went from 29% to 59%
Reading 3 times a week or more went from 59% to 85%
Children asked to be read to increased 90%
Children reading on their own increased 90%
If child gets what she needs in her first five years of life, they are
• 50% less likely to need special education
• 40% less likely to be retained in a grade (doesn’t work anyway)
• 28% less like to be involved in drug use
• 70% less likely to be arrested for violent crime
• 46% less likely to be involved in criminal justice system at all
Enriching early experiences lead to early language development, school readiness, grade progression, on-time graduation, and college attendance. Children less prepared for school at kindergarten are more likely to be held back in school, need special education, and fail to graduate from high school. High quality early childhood education investments are cost effective strategies for improving academic success and promoting lifetime health.
Reading out loud to a child is the simplest and most effective way to prepare a child for kindergarten. Children average 3 more years of schooling when they have many books in the home. (20 books). Imagination Library provides 60 books to children birth through their fifth birthday.
There is a large body of research on the value and importance of high-quality early education programs especially for disadvantaged kids. In Garland County 27.5%, and Montgomery County 34.2% of children under 18 live in poverty according to U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates 2014.
Study specific to The Imagination Library
If children are enrolled 4 months or more:
Parent reading to child went from 29% to 59%
Reading 3 times a week or more went from 59% to 85%
Children asked to be read to increased 90%
Children reading on their own increased 90%
If child gets what she needs in her first five years of life, they are
• 50% less likely to need special education
• 40% less likely to be retained in a grade (doesn’t work anyway)
• 28% less like to be involved in drug use
• 70% less likely to be arrested for violent crime
• 46% less likely to be involved in criminal justice system at all
Footnotes available upon request or on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library site at www.imaginationlibrary.com
Each book the child receives is tailored with information and includes recommendations for parents on how to read the book and questions to ask the children as they read the book and things to discuss after reading the book. Parents are also given helpful tips on making reading fun. Parents are given information of their responsibility to notify the program if they have a change of address to ensure continuation of the program.
A presentation to all Garland and Montgomery County School Superintendents is scheduled for January of this year at both the Dawson and Mena Educational Co-Ops. Imagination Library of the Ouachitas is working to establish partnerships with each school district to implement the Reading Imitative for Student Excellence (R.I.S.E.).
Part III
Enriching early experiences lead to early language development, school readiness, grade progression, on-time graduation, and college attendance. Children less prepared for school at kindergarten are more likely to be held back in school, need special education, and fail to graduate from high school. High quality early childhood education investments are cost effective strategies for improving academic success and promoting lifetime health. Imagination Library is simple, cost effective and a lot of bang for the buck. Reading out loud to a child is the simplest and most effective way to prepare a child for kindergarten. Children average 3 more years of schooling when they have many books in the home. (20 books). Imagination Library provides 60 books to children birth through their fifth birthday.
Trenise Elliott with Garland County Health Unit and Bonnie Carr with Montgomery County Health Unit:
- Request additional supplies
- Notify program contacts of any problems/issues
- Trenise Elliott and Bonnie Carr send all applications to Anita Watson. Anita Watson enters the children registered into the Book Order system, tracks and verifies the number of children signed up and their registration date, verifies lost to follow-up (i.e. undeliverable books due to address change) and the number of children who have graduated from the program.
Gail Greenberg (volunteer) looks each child who is lost to follow-up and attempts to contact for up to date addresses before deleting them from the system.
Penny Beed and Amy Thomason present to local organization on a regular basis. During 2017 they presented to 16 different organizations (Churches, Service Clubs, etc.)
- 400 children from low income families will be served for one year
- All participants will be tracked for follow up
- 4800 books mailed to children in Garland and Montgomery County for one year
- Long-term School District Kindergarten Readiness scores will be collected annually beginning 2021
Outcome Measures
Each child registered for the program will be tracked by age, gender and length of time in the program. This will be performed on a yearly basis with the use of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reporting System and information gathered from the Garland and Montgomery County Health Units.
- School District Kindergarten Readiness scores, which is available through each school district being served will be tracked when the children enter kindergarten beginning in 2021.
- Number of books mailed will be tracked on a yearly basis with the use of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reporting system.
- Books which are undeliverable are picked up from the Post Office on a weekly and/or monthly basis. New addresses for these children are then followed up on and updated in the system. If no new address is located the child is removed from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library System. Parent(s) and/or guardian(s) may re-register their child or children into the system again in they live in a participating county
- The number of returned books will be tracked and the returned books will be used for outreach activities.
- All data required by United Way will be provided on request.
Evaluation Plan
Information will be collected via Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reporting System
- Information will be gathered from the Garland and Montgomery County Health Units
- School District Kindergarten Readiness scores, which is available through each school district being served will be tracked when the children enter kindergarten beginning in 2021.
(How you know the participants achieved outcome)
- Each child registered for the program will be tracked by age, gender and length of time in the program. This will be performed on a yearly basis with the use of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reporting System and information gathered from the Garland and Montgomery County Health Units.
- Quails Inventory Kindergarten Readiness scores, which is available through each school district being served will be tracked when the children enter kindergarten beginning in 2021.
- Number of books mailed will be tracked on a yearly basis with the use of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reporting system.
- Books which are undeliverable are picked up from the Post Office on a weekly and/or monthly basis. New addresses for these children are then followed up on and updated in the system. If no new address is located the child is removed from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library System. Parent(s) and/or guardian(s) may re-register their child or children into the system again in they live in a participating county
- The number of returned books will be tracked and the returned books will be used for outreach activities.
- All data required by United Way will be provided on request.
Example: Survey, Test, Intake/Exit exams, Observations
- Information will be collected via Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reporting System
- Information will be gathered from the Garland and Montgomery County Health Units
- School District Kindergarten Readiness scores, which is available through each school district being served will be tracked when the children enter kindergarten beginning in 2021.
Imagination Library of the Ouachitas is on track to register 200 infants and their siblings through the Women Infant and Children’s program (WIC) program in Garland and Montgomery Counties with the 2017 grant funds provided by the United Way. This includes 66 siblings signed up with their infant brother or sister during this grant cycle. All children are verified low income through the WIC program. There are a total of 434 graduates to date in Garland County and Montgomery County. All of these children have reached the age of 5 years and therefore aged out of the program.
The success of this program is well documented through extensive research. School District Kindergarten Readiness scores provide local data on the success of this program when each child enters kindergarten by percentage of the number of children who have been on the program at least 3 years. This is the 2nd year that many of our children have been enrolled in this program. In addition over 1400 more children are signed up currently in Montgomery and Garland Counties. This program by working with the WIC program at both the Garland and Montgomery County Health Units reach a difficult population of parents. Many are considered the working poor and are off work for a few weeks for maternity leave.
Both the WIC clerks and the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor were provided a lunch and learn by Imagination Library board members. The trainees viewed a Youtube video of Pam Toler presenting brain development of a birth to 5 year old child. A board member went over the paperwork of how to work with the parents to understand the importance of reading to their children each day. Parents filled out the registration forms which are collected and sent to a board member who entered the information into the Dolly Parton Foundation online program.
One parent shared a story of her son knowing what time of the month his book would arrive. She said each month he would ask her to check to mailbox for his new book. She said that he would ask her to read all of his books over and over. She is very appreciative of the program as many others also expressed this same sentiment.
Part IV
The other projected contribution from Foundations, Corporations and Individual Contributors which the Imagination Library of the Ouachitas anticipates per our Program Revenue Projections for 2018 (excluding United Way funding) is $32,825. We are anticipating marketing expenditures to be $750 and $300 for Charity Tracker Software which will leave us with $31,775 for books and mailing costs. This additional funding ($31,775) will support 1271 children during 2018 (1,271 children x $25/year per child = $31,775).
1,271 children will receive books from other funding and 400 children will be funded through the United Way Grant in 2018.
- Reading and approval of previous meetings minutes
- Budget and finance report
- Fundraising activities
- County participation reports
- Speakers Bureau
- New Business
Nomination and application process and approval for obtaining new board members are included in our By-Laws.
- Were you able to pay all regular operational expenses within 60 days of the due date?
- Have you been able to maintain your 501 (c) 3 Tax Exempt Status?
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
funding to register more children