Iredell County Partnership for Young Children now offers a bilingual book collection

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library expands its offerings throughout North Carolina

Especially for IFN

The NC Partnership for Children has announced a major expansion of the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) program in North Carolina with the launch of a new bilingual book collection.

DPIL has been fostering a love of reading in children ages 0-5 by delivering specially selected books to their homes each month since 2017. DPIL is available in every county in North Carolina through the Smart Start Network.

The program currently reaches 5,771 children ages 0 to 5 in Iredell County.

Participating families can now choose between two library book collections – an English collection and a fully bilingual English/Spanish collection.

♦ English Collection – Mainly English books, occasionally bilingual English-Spanish books.

♦ Bilingual English/Spanish Collection – Only bilingual English/Spanish books.

This change will help DPIL and the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children provide Spanish-speaking families with equal access to high-quality children’s literature.

“The addition of fully bilingual Imagination Library books in English and Spanish is a great option for Spanish-speaking families, allowing more equitable access to the program. This brings us closer to our goal of instilling a love of reading in all children through the gift of Imagination Library books,” said Jeff Conyers, President of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

“This expansion gives all families in Iredell County an equal opportunity to foster strong parent-child interaction and develop an early love of reading. It is so important for children to see themselves and their culture reflected in all books. We are grateful to be part of Phase 1 and help close the early literacy gap for all families,” added Peyton Barrows, ICPYC Literacy Coordinator/Mooreesville Site.

Amy Cubbage, president of the NC Partnership for Children, also expressed her enthusiasm for the new initiative.

“This expansion is another big step toward ensuring every child in North Carolina has access to high-quality books that foster the ability and love of reading. We are excited to be able to reach more children and celebrate the diverse languages ​​and cultures that make our communities strong.”

Both collections have been carefully curated by the book selection committee to inspire a love of reading and ensure that every child can develop strong reading skills from a young age. While some titles overlap between the collections, each collection has unique books that are sent out monthly.

LEARN MORE

To learn more about the partnership between Smart Start and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library or to enroll a child in Iredell County, visit https://www.iredellsmartstart.org/dpil

ABOUT ICPYC

The Iredell County Partnership for Young Children (ICPYC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to measurably improving the learning and healthy development of children from birth to age five in Iredell County. ICPYC provides services focused on improving the quality of early childhood care and education, supporting families, promoting child health, and improving literacy skills. For more information, call (704) 878-9980 or visit http://www.iredellsmartstart.org/. ICPYC is located at 734 Salisbury Road in Statesville.