Imagine a child's face lit up with excitement as they eagerly open a package that’s arrived at their doorstep, knowing that inside lies a brand-new book, just for them.
That's Emily Miller, reading to her son, Jonathan, from the book, “Find Fergus,” by Mike Boldt. A book that Jonathan received in the mail.
This scene has become a common sight in more than 1,400 households in Waco, thanks to the Imagination Library, a literacy program dedicated to nurturing the love of reading in young children.
Founded by country singer Dolly Parton in 1995, the Imagination Library started in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she was born and raised. This nonprofit organization ensures that children from birth to age five choose and receive one brand-new, age-appropriate book in the mail every month, free of charge, straight from the publisher.
EMILY: “Whenever there’s a book in the mail they run back into the home. They’re so excited, they immediately open it up, open the packaging up, and sit on the couch and look at the pictures and try to make sense of the story before we get time to read it.”
The Millers have two of their children enrolled in the program.
EMILY: “They absolutely love it. It is so sweet to see them all gather around and it’s just a really sweet thing that they get to do together as siblings.”
Local affiliates of the library in Waco, Kevin and Noelle Baker, kick-started the nonprofit in 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hopes of finding a way to keep the Waco community connected.
NOELLE: “Like a lot of people in 2020, we had a lot of time on our hands. We started thinking about different things we could do to get involved, we set up Imagination Library of Waco as the local affiliate non-profit, and we started fundraising for it. Then in February of 2021 we started mailing out books to children in Waco.”
Now, as of September, they celebrate a 25,000 book donation milestone.
KEVIN: “Providing those resources earlier on in life are going to set up kids for success later on in school and also later on after school.”
NOELLE: “The program is designed to give children exposure to books but it's more than just teaching them to read. There’s so much benefit to it, including the emotional benefit that children get from bonding with a parent over reading books.”
The Bakers were both exposed to the program during their time living in Tennessee. Kevin, during his childhood, and Noelle, during her medical residency at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Now as a married couple, they are able to share their combined love of reading through the Imagination Library.
And, as a gynecologist, Noelle is able to sign babies up as soon as they are born.
NOELLE: “I could kind of tie in my day job of delivering babies and then getting those babies enrolled in the program right away.”
In addition to promoting early childhood literacy, the Imagination Library also seeks to provide books to children from families who may not have easy access to reading materials.
The Miller family says that is one of the many things that attracted them to the program.
EMILY: “The really unique thing about Imagination Library is that the book comes to you. So often there are great resources but it’s at the library or at the school. And either you don’t have the transportation to easily get to the library, or when you can go, your parents are working and you’re unable to go. So the fact that wonderful books and literature come to you, the child, who maybe wouldn’t normally get exposed to wonderful, beautiful books, makes lasting impacts on this community for many years to come.”
While the Imagination Library already serves six zip codes in Waco, the Bakers have made it their mission to expand all across McLennan county through a major fundraising event.
The idea – A race between 5,000 rubber ducks on the Brazos River.
KEVIN: “We’re gonna have a family fun fest at Indian Spring Park on the Brazos, and then we will have a rubber duck race at 2 PM, where we will dump 5,000 rubber ducks from the Washington Street Bridge and let them float contained between two booms so they don’t run off and float down the river. They’ll race down and we’ll declare three winners.”
The Great Waco Duck Race fundraiser is set for October 8th. The Bakers say that the public can purchase a duck for $5 to compete in the race at duckrace.com/waco. All of the proceeds from the event will go toward expanding and improving the Imagination Library of Waco.
For Waco Public Radio, I’m Autumn Jones.
