Program offers free books to children under age 5

Rapides Women’s and Children’s Hospital and The Rapides Foundation are excited to announce the expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library into Rapides Parish through the Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center Foundation.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library's mission is to inspire a love of reading by providing universal access to free, high-quality and age-appropriate books each month for children ages 0 to 5 years old.

The program is free, and since registration opened in September, more than 1,100 families in Rapides Parish have signed up. For children whose families register them upon birth, they will receive by mail a new book each month. By the time they reach their fifth birthday and age out of the program, they will have received 60 free books.

“We are honored to partner with The Rapides Foundation to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Rapides Parish,” said Charla H. Ducote, Vice President of Marking, Public Relations and Business Development at Rapides Regional Medical Center. “Reading to your child is one of the most important things you can do to aid in their development and to create a lifelong love affair with reading.”

Parents of babies born at Rapides Women’s and Children’s Hospital will be able to register their newborns before they are discharged home following birth.

A launch party is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9, from 9 a.m.-noon at the Country Inn and Suites’ Pineville Convention Center. The event will include activities, art projects and vendors. There will also be opportunities to register for the program. Registration also may be done online at the Dolly Parton Imagination Library website. Parents who reside outside Rapides Parish may also use the website to check eligibility status through their parish of residence.

“Our board welcomed the opportunity to fund a portion of the costs to bring the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Central Louisiana parishes,” said Joe Rosier, President and CEO of The Rapides Foundation. “The project aligns with our Education Initiative, which has a focus on School Readiness. Research shows children who enter kindergarten ready to learn are more likely to complete high school and go through their school careers without repeating a grade.”

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees in late 2023 awarded a $120,000 grant to The Dollywood Foundation to expand the Imagination Library into Rapides, Allen, Catahoula, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Vernon and Winn parishes.

Inspired by her father’s inability to read or write, Dolly Parton started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts more than 2.5 million free books each month to children, regardless of the family’s income. Since its beginning, more than 247 million free books have been distributed.

“Before he passed away, my daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” said Dolly Parton. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my daddy. Inspiring kids to read became my passion and my mission. If you can read, you can teach yourself anything.”

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