KERN COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — Kern Literacy Council's partnership with Dolly Parton Imagination Library started in the county in Sept. 2023, and organizers say they hope to expand their reach in year two.
- Video shows Kern Literacy Council discussing the success they saw in the first year of the program. Kids ages zero to five are eligible to receive one free book per month through the library program.
- Registration and donation information can be found on the Kern Literacy Council's website.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Giving kids the gift of literacy. This month, the Kern Literacy Council is celebrating one year of its partnership with Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
23ABC sat down with Ian Anderson, executive director of Kern Literacy Council, to learn about how the program has impacted Kern County in its first year.
“Now, what we’re looking at is sustainability, long-term," Anderson said.
To date, he says they have 8,200 kids enrolled, which he says is about 12% of the population of children 0 to 5 in the county, but, looking ahead to future years, they hope to expand their reach.
“Kern county has 64,000 plus children 0 to 5, and that will take us some time," said Anderson. "But one of the things we work on as our expansion is we [are] really trying to get out to the outlying areas.”
In the first 12 months of the program, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library has given out around 98,000 books to Kern kids. Anderson says the official number is over 100,000, but some children graduated the program.
One of those kids receiving books is the program’s administrator, Alyssa Enriquez’s, one-year-old son. She says he was born two weeks before the program launched, and he’s grown up alongside it.
“My older children read them to him. He always has a book in his hand," Enriquez said. "He doesn’t know what’s going on and he doesn’t know how to read, but, you know, I believe [I see it] just impacting him and seeing the books...it’s it’s a joy.”
Anderson says this program is one step toward addressing literacy rates in Kern County.
“It’s not just getting the books in the hands of kids. You have to read them," said Anderson. "Literacy is for everyone, but literally requires engagement. I don’t want to say that this is the final solution, it is part of—it’s a significant step towards that solution.”
In Kern, with help from a state program, it costs $13 a year for one child to get one free book a month.
In the first year, Anderson says the program spent nearly $150,000 with help from sponsors, including around $10,000 from the county budget. But, he says that in this next year, those county funds would no longer be allocated to the program. They’re always grateful, he says, for community donations.
“It’s also a really cool way for community members to engage if you want to make your dollars go really far and have a significant impact," said Anderson.
For more information on how to register your child for the program, visit the Kern Literacy Council’s website.
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