Alabama Foster Children to Receive Free Books Through Imagination Library
Alabama will now automatically enroll all children ages 0-5 in foster care into dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, ensuring they receive a free, age-appropriate book mailed to them each month. The initiative, a partnership between the state Department of Early Childhood Education and the Department of Human Resources (DHR), aims to foster a love of reading and support early childhood development.
Governor Kay Ivey stated, “Every child in Alabama deserves a strong start, and that foundation begins with reading. By putting a new book in the hands of our youngest Alabamians each month, we are planting the seeds for a lifetime of learning and success.”
Previously, alabama families could participate in the Imagination Library programme – wich provides a free book monthly to children from birth to age five – by signing up themselves. Now, the DHR will manage enrollment for foster children, removing any cost burden from foster parents.
DHR Commissioner Nancy buckner emphasized the program’s potential impact on children in foster care, noting, “In the life of a foster child, circumstances are ever-changing, and these monthly books will be something these children will look forward to every month. Gifting these books will be one way we work to ensure success in their life later down the road.”
Foster parents caring for eligible children will receive a letter detailing the program. Children will be automatically removed from the program upon turning five years old.
the Imagination Library was founded in 1995 by Dolly Parton in Sevier County, Tennessee, and has since expanded internationally. Today, the program delivers books to children across the U.S., as well as in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Ireland. Currently, approximately one in seven children under the age of five in the U.S. participate in the Imagination library.Alabama began participating in the Imagination Library program in 2023.
