Grant Description

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library continues to grow in New Mexico. “Just Imagine!” provides training and support to local affiliates who want to give children 0-4 the gifts of book ownership.

Tracking Metric

Description
Since 2010 we’ve delivered 136,621 books to 80% of babies, toddlers and preschoolers in Grant County. Research and parent surveys confirm that children benefit by becoming more interested in books, learning new vocabulary, spending more time with family members and scoring higher on reading proficiency tests. That’s why we’ve grown the Imagination Library in New Mexico through our state expansion project, “Just Imagine!” With support from the FHL Foundation, we’ve advocated for partial state funding and offered new affiliates 501c3 sponsorship, sample books, registration forms, displays, training and start-up funding. Our founders, Barbara and Loren Nelson, have become Emeritus Board Members and continue to champion the Imagination Library’s state expansion efforts. Since 2015, we have grown the number of affiliates in the state to 41. In the past year, during the pandemic, we supported 8 new affiliates in Roosevelt, DeBaca, San Miguel, Mora, Guadalupe, Union, Valencia, McKinley and Chaves counties. All 33 counties now have at least one affiliate, and today 17,739 children are enrolled and receive a free book in the mail every month. With this grant we will help affiliates expand their coverage areas and enroll more children.

Goal
20,000