Penny Beed talks to AAUW members about the Imagination Library of the Ouachitas at the AAUW annual meeting. (Mary Eliades photo)

The Hot Springs/Hot Springs Village branch held its annual meeting on April 17. In addition to electing officers for 2019-2020 and conducting other business, the group was pleased to welcome Penny Beed and Janet McAdams, who gave a presentation on the Imagination Library of the Ouachitas.

The Imagination Library, the brainchild of Dolly Parton, was launched in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Dolly grew up. The program was a huge success and has expanded globally.

Seventy out of 75 counties in Arkansas are covered by the program and the “local” affiliate covers Garland, Montgomery and Pike counties.

Age-appropriate books are distributed monthly to participating children from birth to age five – mailed to the home and addressed to the child. Some of the books are bilingual and some are available in Braille. The organization also gives parents tips on reading to kids.

The local affiliate focuses on outreach to low-income programs like Head Start, and has an agreement with CHI St. Vincent to enroll every child born in the hospital.

A video of a presentation given to the Rotary Club of Maumelle explained the importance of reading in early childhood development. Impressive statistics showed the correlation between reading (parents reading to children, children reading alone, etc.) and higher levels of education, lower incidence of drug use and teen pregnancy, improved IQ, better pay, etc.

The video presenter discussed the need for more resources in early childhood education, noting that most public funds go to K-12 schools.

For more information on Imagination Library, visit https://imaginationlibrary.com/.