Imagination Library Available in 12 More Communities

News Release July 21, 2010 Contact: Barbara Brown at Best Beginnings @ 907.297.3309

Imagination Library available in 12 more communities Rasmuson Foundation grants help spread family literacy program

Twelve Alaska communities will be added to the Imagination Library roster under a third round of grants. The grants are funded by a $358,400 multi-year grant to Best Beginnings from the Rasmuson Foundation.

The new communities are Brevig Mission, Unalakleet, and Tatitlek. The North Slope Imagination Library will expand from Barrow to the seven other North Slope villages of Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, Point Hope, Point Lay, and Wainwright; and Mat-Su Imagination Library will now cover Wasilla, Palmer, and Big Lake. Imagination Libraries in Anchorage and Old Harbor also received funds to expand enrollments.

With this round of grants, Best Beginnings is now helping 48 communities promote child and family literacy by participating in Imagination Library. More than 9,000 Alaska children receive a book in the mail each month.

“Having new books of their own is a powerful way for children and their parents to become more engaged in positive learning experiences,” said Abbe Hensley, Executive Director of Best Beginnings. “Imagination Library is more than book delivery: it’s a Get- the-Whole-Community-Involved-in-Reading-with-Kids Program.”

In most of the communities receiving grants, a local entity is sponsoring, underwriting, or organizing Imagination Library. On the North Slope, the Friends of Tuzzy Library is taking the lead. In both Unalakleet and Brevig Mission, the traditional IRA councils are sponsoring the program, and in Tatitlek, Chugachmiut has provided additional impetus.

Best Beginnings has become the statewide coordinating entity for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails a high-quality, age-appropriate book each month to children from birth to age 5. The program costs $30 per child, per year, but there is no charge to the family.

3350 Commercial Drive, Suite 104A  Anchorage, Alaska 99501 t. 907.297.3300  f. 907.297.3304  BestBeginningsAlaska.org

Best Beginnings is a public-private partnership that mobilizes people and resources to ensure all Alaska children begin school ready to succeed. In communities that already have an Imagination Library, Best Beginnings helps expand their capacity to send books to more children. In other locations, Best Beginnings provides technical and administrative assistance and grants to establish new Imagination Libraries. In addition to raising local funds, volunteers promote the program, register the children, provide accompanying family programs, and maintain the enrollment database. Interested communities are invited to contact Best Beginnings about bringing Imagination Library to their area.

Since Best Beginnings first became involved in Imagination Library in 2008, it has expanded and sprouted all over the state. Earlier grants were funded by the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (DEED), ConocoPhillips Alaska, and The CIRI Foundation.

Best Beginnings is a public-private partnership mobilizing people and resources to ensure all Alaska children begin school ready to succeed.