Literacy in the Storybook Capital of America

Abilene, the Storybook Capital of America, has numerous opportunities to highlight the importance of literacy and stories, specifically children’s stories. From the Children’s Art and Literacy Festival (CALF) to strolling through downtown parks to view the Storybook Sculptures, literacy is celebrated and valued in the Big Country.

Practically speaking, the public library provides the most comprehensive and free access to books. But two other programs offer free books and promote literacy that might be even more convenient than taking a trip to the library: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Little Free Library.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program sends an age-appropriate book in the mail every month to children from birth to age five. “Reading aloud to children, starting at birth, helps build brain connections during the first 5 years of their life. This is the time in which 90% of a child’s brain development happens.” (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University)

Parents across the Big Country have inquired about this program since it expanded nationwide in the early 2000s. Marcus Wiley of the United Way has spearheaded the initiative to bring the Imagination Library to Abilene and seven surrounding counties. “The public library has wanted to do this for a long time, so we partnered with them starting from the beginning,” Wiley explained. They also worked with Early Head Start at Long and Crockett Elementaries and the Day Nursery. 1,500 children were signed up in the first month. “The program sells itself. So many parents were waiting for Imagination Library to come here,” Wiley said.

Generous donors came to United Way to fund the first year of the Imagination Library. Now, the United Way is reaching out to businesses, banks, and other libraries or community partners that would want to fund counties or towns. “For example, Carnegie Library in Stamford covers Haskell County. A wonderful couple, Clayton and Madison Tarpley, covers Merkel,” shared Wiley. The United Way is looking for other partners to cover a school district or a county.

There is no income eligibility. And if a family has multiple children under the age of five, each child will receive an age appropriate book every month until their fifth birthday. Registering is easy at the library, at the United Way, or on your own online. Your eligibility is verified by your address. When a family moves, registration is transferable if they move to an area with an Imagination Library program. “Our job at the United Way is to raise money, raise awareness, and enroll kids, and Dolly takes care of the rest,” said Wiley.

Little Free Library: Take a Book, Share a Book
When LaShara and Andy Nieland went on vacation to visit family in Michigan in the mid-2010s, they saw a Little Free Library on the side of a neighborhood road. They stopped and borrowed some books to read on their vacation, but felt guilty for not sharing books of their own in place of the ones they took. The next year, they came prepared. Not only did they bring a book to replace another one they took, but they wrote a note telling the Little Free Library owners how much they liked this concept.

The Nielands started seeing Little Free Libraries everywhere. A hobby began for them as they looked up where to find these freestanding boxes housing books to take and share on other vacations they took. When they went to New England, they looked up Little Free Libraries so they could keep reading as they traveled. They traded in books they just finished for new ones. “It was very convenient, and it’s fun to see what other people have discovered that they want to share. I have tried new books that I wouldn’t have chosen to read, and it has expanded my horizons,” LaShara shared.

When the Nielands returned home, LaShara used the Little Free Library website to find all of the locations in Abilene, and they visited each one. They knew they wanted to create their own Little
Free Library in their neighborhood as well.

The Little Free Library website has wooden kits to purchase, but the Nielands’ son offered to build one for his parents based on a shared Pinterest page of styles his mom liked. “Our son Zach surprised me with my own Little Free Library one summer after we had his kids for a week at Cousin Camp,” LaShara said. “We put our own books in there to begin, and it manages itself.”

Little Free Libraries promote literacy. Families can enjoy these together as they walk their dogs in the neighborhood or as they ride bikes to a friend’s house. The Nielands often work in their garden and chat with neighbors as they stop by to look for books. “It’s a free treasure hunt,” LaShara observed, “and it promotes unity in a neighborhood. When you read and you really like books, you can’t keep them all.” And with the influx of books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program, there could be books for even the littlest of readers, once children move on to higher-level stories.

Abilenians continually value literacy in many creative ways, from the youngest of babies enrolling in Imagination Library to the oldest of neighbors, reading fiction from the Little Free Library next door.

By Laura Daulton