New Program Proposed That Will Provide Free Books For Pittsburgh Children

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Children in Pittsburgh could soon be able to get free books as part of a new program being set up by Mayor Bill Peduto's Administration.

You don't usually think of the great singer Dolly Parton with books, especially books for young children.

But Dolly through her Dollywood Foundation is about to provide free books to every young child in Pittsburgh.

"She grew up, as many people know, very, very poor, and her father she came to find out was functionally illiterate," Dollywood Foundation president Jeff Conyers told KDKA.

"And she watched as she describes him a very wise man honestly struggle through life because he was not able to read and write."

To honor her father, Dolly Parton established a special project called the Imagination Library.

Through a $250,000 grant from the Benter Foundation, Peduto is asking city council on Tuesday to approve a pilot project with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

"Any child in the city under five [is eligible]," says Dan Gilman, Peduto's chief of staff. "And once you sign up and you're verified as a city resident for the next five years, every month, they'll be a book in your mailbox for your child."

Regardless of income, city kids -- from birth to age five -- will be able to sign up for a free age-appropriate book every month personally addressed to them, says Conyers.

"The very first book that every child receives is "The Little Engine That Could," says Conyers.

"It's Dolly's favorite and she often describes herself as the little engine that did."

"It encourages parents and kids to sit down together, that human contact, the bonding with the mother and father with the child is fantastic," adds Gilman, himself the father of two young children. "And then, of course, a child with a library is more likely to be an early reader, and we all know the benefits for life that come with that."

Amazingly, Dolly Parton's foundation has already distributed 115 million books, and she herself has participated in book readings to kids, including a book she wrote and sings, "My Coat of Many Colors."