Take me out to the ball game…

On a warm Sunday in June the Lancaster Barnstormers took on the Somerset Patriots as 500 children watch. These children are participating in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – a program designed to improve literacy rates by sending children in need free books each month.

The vision is for all children to be able to own books regardless of their family’s income level. So far, there are over 900,000 children in the U.S.who are registered and benefiting from this program. The goal is for the basic model to be replicated in communities all over the country.

In her letter introducing the Imagination Library program, Dolly writes:

When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer.The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.

Learn more by reading the Lancaster Barnstormers’ press release. Demme Learning was one of the event sponsors.

Make sure you visit your local library over the summer: you can enjoy summer reading contests, educational programs, and of course access to lots and lots of great books.

Check out this article from Utah Valley’s Daily Herald on a family business and philanthropy initiative that is doing the same kind of thing as the Imagination Library.