ABOUT US
Governor Phil Bredesen established the non-partisan, not-for-profit Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation® (GBBF) in 2004 to serve as a resource to Tennesseans establishing and sustaining county Imagination Libraries. Initially charged with conducting the Imagination Library statewide rollout, raising funds, and training volunteers, Foundation staff now serve Imagination Library organizers by providing fundraising, public relations, and other support.
Since the Foundation’s launch, Tennessee’s Imagination Library has grown by leaps and bounds:
- Tennessee’s statewide Imagination Library provides a new, age-appropriate, high-quality book every month to registered children from birth to age five - at no cost to the family, regardless of income. More than 10.1 million Imagination Library books have been delivered to Tennessee children since October 2004.
- Currently, nearly 57% of Tennessee children throughout all 95 counties are enrolled in the program.
- All of Tennessee’s 375,000 children under age five now have access to the Imagination Library.
- Nearly 171,000 Tennessee five-year-olds have already "graduated" from the Imagination Library, which means that our statewide program has actually served over 347,573 children since the creation of the GBBF in 2004.
Our Mission
To manage the ongoing, statewide implementation of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Tennessee; assisting all Tennessee preschool children in developing their vocabulary, school readiness, and love of learning and reading by ensuring that free, high quality, age-appropriate books are mailed once a month directly to their homes, from birth until age five.
Vision
Our Vision is that all Tennessee preschool children will develop a healthy love of reading, have a proficient vocabulary, and begin school equally prepared to learn through regular interaction with parents/guardians and books in the home, from birth. As more children continue to ‘graduate’ from the Imagination Library, all Tennesseans will benefit from a higher quality of life, improved health, and ultimately realize a workforce with the skills needed to support Tennessee’s future. We hope to serve as a successful model for the establishment of other statewide Imagination Library programs, so that eventually every preschool child in America will benefit from the many advantages of having books in the home.
Values/Behaviors
- We will work to ensure stability and permanence for the Tennessee’s Imagination Library.
- We will maintain existing and establish new, creative sponsoring partnerships with foundations, governments and corporations, and show appreciation for our sponsors through consistent recognition of their support.
- We will work in close partnership with the Dollywood Foundation to uphold in Tennessee the three Imagination Library cornerstones: high quality books, available to all preschool children, delivered to the home once a month.
- We will guide, encourage and help provide tools for the success of county sponsoring organizations’ efforts to develop aggressive boards, locate and enroll all local preschool children and raise funds to pay for their portion of the program expense.
- We will be champions for early childhood literacy, learning and love of reading.
- We will be creative and open-minded, always looking for better solutions and see change for the opportunity it brings.
- We will promote the Imagination Library/Governor’s Books from Birth partnership brand on a statewide level, and always strive to have respectful and prominent representation of both Dolly Parton and the Governor of Tennessee in all public media and outreach.
- We will be a willing, open resource and advocate for any state interested in replicating Tennessee’s statewide Imagination Library model.
About the Imagination Library
Dolly Parton created the Imagination Library in 1996 for the children in her home town of Sevierville, Tenn. The program provides a new, age-appropriate, high-quality book every month to children from birth to age five at no cost to the family, regardless of income.
- The cost of providing the program to Tennessee's children is $24 per child, per year. This cost is split evenly between a non-profit sponsoring organization in each county, and the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation.
- A blue ribbon committee of childhood education experts selects the books for the Imagination Library, which include such beloved classics as The Little Engine That Could®, Spot Goes to the Farm, The Snowy Day, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!
- Up to ten bilingual Imagination Library books, included throughout the birth-to-age-five enrollment period, feature Spanish and English text on the same page.
- In many communities, hospital nurses register children for the program the very day they are born. Also, local pediatricians and family physicians offer parents of their preschool patients a “prescription to read.”
About the Resources
Fundraising
To support Tennessee’s Imagination Library, Governor Bredesen each year asks the General Assembly’s approval of a State budgetary allocation to cover half of each county’s cost of providing books every month, based on projected increases in children registered. As half of the cost of each county's monthly book order is covered by the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, Tennessee counties' Imagination Library sponsoring organizations need only raise $12 per child, per year.
The Foundation raises funds from various corporations, foundations and individuals throughout the state. These funds provide full-coverage distressed county grants and are used for special projects such as purchasing full sets of Imagination Library books for each of the State’s Voluntary Pre-K for All classrooms and local Head Start Centers.
Public Relations
Press releases, event planning and fundraising promotion training are provided to boost enrollment, momentum, and exposure for countywide Imagination Libraries. The Foundation also maintains a user-friendly Web site, distributes a quarterly newsletter (PDF), and hosts the GBBF Fall Workshop each October.
Program Partnerships
To maintain momentum for this statewide children's literacy program, the GBBF proudly utilizes the passion and resources of a number of Tennessee non-profits, businesses, local and statewide library and education-related' organizations, civic groups, state and local governments, etc.
Currently 301 teenagers representing 38 counties have also become active GBBF partners with the 2005 launch of the Governor’s League of Extraordinary Teens, which engages teens age 13 – 19 years in the logistical and financial support of their county Imagination Libraries.
For more information, please call us toll-free at 1-877-99-BOOKS!
