Gamma Delta Chapter
Alleghany and Ashe Counties
North Carolina
Organized May 1, 1976
"Each for all and all for each"
Minutes/News
Links:
Gamma Delta believes literacy is an important life skill laying the foundation for success. Our chapter along with many community businesses and organizations is participating in the Imagination Library program to ensure the children in our county are given an opportunity for early literacy skills before they start school.
In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the
children of her home county in east Tennessee. Dolly wanted to foster a
love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their
families. She wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the
magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child
would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
So she decided to mail a brand new, age appropriate book each month to
every child under the age of 5 in Sevier County. With the arrival of
every child’s first book, the classic The Little Engine That Could
™, each child could now experience the joy of finding his or her very
own book in the mail box. These moments continue each month until the
child turns 5—and in the very last month in the program the child
receives Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.
Needless to say the experience has been a smashing success! So much so that many other communities clamored to provide the Imagination Library for their children. Dolly thought long and hard about it and decided her Foundation should develop a way for other communities to participate. The Foundation asked a blue ribbon panel of experts to select just the right books; moreover, a database was built to keep track of the information. Where do you start? Go to the website and explore! www.imaginationlibrary.com
A community must make the program accessible to all preschool
children in their area. The community pays for the books and mailing
(about $28 for each child per year), promotes the program, registers the
children, and enters the information into the database. From there The
Dollywood Foundation takes over and manages the system to deliver the
books to the home. You can find out more of the operational details at
the website. Hundreds of communities are providing books to hundreds of
thousands of children…and so can you! Go to the website first…until you
can get to a computer, the steps to consider are printed on the reverse
side of this information sheet!
Inspiration & imagination---love of reading and learning---regard for diversity of people, their roles, culture, and environment---promotion of self-esteem and confidence---appreciation of art and aesthetics. Each series of books should contain certain characteristics specific to their age appropriateness including:
 |
Vision - bright,
big, colorful; Touch - board pages; Rhyme and rhythm; Simple - easy to use; |
Minimal text - point
and say; Playful sounds; |
Continuation of concepts from year one and
build upon them. "Self-help" activities
|
||
 |
Wordless books -
build your own story Values and character |
Issues - fear,
conflict, love, safety Nursery rhymes |
 |
More complex
stories-- --hero, complication, resolution Diversity of others-- --faces, environment - OK to be different |
Play, humor, fun Nursery rhymes and poetry |
 |
School preparation
and readiness Use rebus (pictures used for words) Science - non-fiction |
Folk tales Thank you, appreciation Rhymes and poetry |
What do we do?
STEP 1--Define the Geographic Area
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a free gift that can be given to children residing in a predetermined zip code, school district, town, county, or even an entire state. The first step to bringing this gift to your community’s children is to identify the area in which you want to offer the program.
The eligibility criteria for the Imagination Library is defined only in terms of the child’s age and residence
Please do not limit registration based on socioeconomics, risk factors, participation in certain programs, parental factors or by any other means other than a child’s age and residence
STEP 2--Think about Fundraising
The staff at The Dollywood Foundation can provide you with a 5 year
projected budget for your community’s program using a "cost projection
template" based on three key items:
the total number of eligible children in your community
the trends taken from other communities that have replicated the program
the average cost of the books and mailing (the annual cost is $28/child/year)
Once you have an idea of the average cost to sustain your program, you will need to identify financial supporters for your program, such as United Way, local businesses, civic groups, local governments, private citizens, educational foundations, churches, Chambers of Commerce, and school systems. (Don’t forget key people in the community…also banks, lawyers, and doctors!)
STEP 3--Identify a Local Champion who has four primary responsibilities:
To register children by publicizing the program using the customized registration brochures designed by The Dollywood Foundation and other promotional materials
To input registration data into The Dollywood Foundation’s database system
To pay the monthly invoice (the annual cost is $28/child/year or an average monthly cost of $2.33)
To pick up undeliverable books from your local post office(s)
Local Champions are characteristically different across localities. In some communities a single group or individual takes on all of the coordinating responsibilities. In other communities, multiple groups and/or individuals divide the responsibilities. Gamma Delta is the Local Champion for this effort in Alleghany County. At the website, type in our zip code (28675) and see our chapter listed! Note: You must make sure that you have a 501(c)(3) agency on board as a key collaborator. Due to postal regulations, the return address on all books must be that of a local 501(c)(3). This same address must also be listed as the contact on the registration brochure.
STEP 4--Complete the Paperwork
There are 4 pieces of documentation that must be filed with The Dollywood Foundation before you can begin registering children with your program. They are Memorandum of Agreement, Affiliate Information Sheet, Mailing Regulations Form, and the Order Form for the Registration Brochure.
STEP 5--Order Registration Brochures
Registration brochures for each locality are customized by The Dollywood
Foundation. The smallest amount you can order is 500 brochures (about
$400). The more you order, the cheaper they are!
STEP 6--Receive Operations Manual and Reference Guide which includes
instructions for registering children, instructions for database maintenance, website instructions, program information, promotion suggestions, FAQs, other resource materials
STEP 7--Host a Rollout Event to publicize your program
Revised April 22, 2010
