The elementary school students kept saying the same things about books available to them at home.
As a group of Franklin College students and their professor, Susan Crisafulli, did literacy research at Franklin schools, they heard many children say they didn’t have much of a home library. Some kids told them they had one or two books of their own, or that the number of books they had access to in their own home would fit in a small basket.
But thanks to the work of Crisafulli, an English professor at Franklin College, as well as a growing contingent of supporters throughout the community, more books are getting into kids’ hands.
Crisafulli established the Johnson County Imagination Library Initiative, part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The nationwide program mails free books to children who live in partnering communities.
Through the program, about 800 students in the Franklin area receive a free book in the mail monthly. To help fund the initiative, Home Bank recently gave $10,000 to help cover the costs of program.
“To me, the Imagination Library is preventative work, to get the books in the hands of kids,” Crisafulli said.
Andrea Kaucher was familiar with the program and signed up to get notifications when it arrived in Franklin. Her two sons are now enrolled in the program. Kaucher is a stay-at-home mother of her two sons, but, has a master’s degree in library sciences and knew how children’s literacy grows when they have more books, she said,
“It is invaluable,” Kaucher said.
Crisafulli had seen the statistics to back that up. She knew that the more books a child had in their possession, the more they could learn and work on their literacy and that students excel academically the more books they have access to.
Her own experience with the Imagination Library started in Tennessee, after she had just given birth to her son. While they were still in the hospital, a representative of the program asked her if she would like to enroll her son. Her daughter was also enrolled in the program at birth.
In 2008, Crisafulli moved to Franklin to teach. The program was not available to local students here.
As Crisafulli and a group of Franklin College students were studying literacy in local elementary schools, they heard the stories about local children without access to many books of their own.
“These were the kids who were struggling the most,” Crisafulli said.
She took a sabbatical from teaching to do research on literacy. Crisafulli found that about 40 percent of students entering kindergarten in Franklin schools could not identify their letters. She thought getting those children better access to books of their own might help.
That research laid the foundation for bringing Imagination Library to Franklin.
Crisafulli partnered with the Johnson County Community Foundation, as partnering with a non-profit organization is a prerequisite to getting the program in local communities, Crisafulli said. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library also requires that each community pay some funds to get the program started, in addition to continuing to fund it.
Local organizers have to pay $2.10 for each book, which includes the book and shipping. Business and individual donors help to get some of the money. Nonprofit foundations provide money, as do the parent-teacher organizations of Franklin schools. Crisafulli writes grants and plans fundraisers to help keep the program going, which costs about $20,000 annually.
“We are continually looking for more money,” she said.
But as the program has taken hold, the Imagination Library has become more visible throughout the community. Families who have a child at Johnson Memorial Hospital can enroll at the time of birth. Forms to enroll are also available at Franklin Pediatrics, the WIC office, Adult & Child Health in Franklin and local preschools.
Work with the program is ongoing and Crisafulli estimates that she spends about the amount of a part-time job running the local chapter.
Each books comes with literacy tips for parents on what they can do when reading the books to build literacy. And the books are quality, award-winning books, Crisafulli said.
The Johnson County program has exceeded the estimated growth from the national Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Most importantly, getting children the books is laying the academic and literacy groundwork for students in the community, Crisafulli said.
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Here is how to enroll your child in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Go to www.imaginationlibrary.com and click on "check availability."Â
The local program is available to students who live in the Franklin Community School district and is available to students ages birth to 5.
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