Hillsborough will research Parton's program

By Times Staff Writer
Published May 5, 2005

TAMPA - Hoping to improve reading skills, Hillsborough County will consider paying an out-of-state group to mail free books to local children.

The County Commission Wednesday asked its staff to research the Dollywood Foundation, a group that country music star Dolly Parton founded in 1995 in Tennessee, her birthplace. The program selects the books, and sends one each month to participating youngsters during the first five years of their lives.

Commissioner Ronda Storms said many parents, particularly those in poorer communities, don't have books for their children. The program, called Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, would be a "wonderful thing" that would boost children during an important period of development, she said.

Governments must buy into the program, although they have the option of defining what areas to target. The annual cost of providing the books is about $85 per child. The county's share of that would be $27 per child. Storms, a former schoolteacher, said the county could try to lower the financial burden by working together with the school district and other organizations. "I would like to see it countywide, ultimately."

[Last modified May 5, 2005, 01:26:13]