By Staff
Thanks to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, more than 300 preschoolers in Franklin County are getting a head start on literacy.
The Imagination Library was started 15 years ago by Parton in her native Seveir County, Tenn., and by 2000 she expanded the free program, which mails a new hardcover book to children ages 0-5 each month until they enter kindergarten.
The program was initiated locally three years ago by Franklin County Community Education, and nearly 200 children have graduated since 2006.
Since there is no enrollment fee, the program relies on private funding to pay for the books and mailing expenses, which total $30 annually per child or $150 for a child to complete the program from start to finish. Local corporations, businesses and individuals have helped fund the local Library, which now has 350 children enrolled.