(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a new gifting program would mail free and age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five, regardless of the family’s income.
The program is a partnership between the state and Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Foundation, which offers scholarships and other educational prizes.
The partnership will look to provide families with books of their choosing, according to Pritzker.
“Today, I couldn’t be prouder to announce that Illinois is beginning its journey to provide every child under the age of five an opportunity to sign up and have a free book delivered to their house every month,” said Pritzker. “Research shows that early literacy makes a big difference for our youngest learners when it comes to developing language and social skills.”
Pritzker also stressed the importance of reading at a young age and why he used $1.6 million in taxpayer funds for this project.
“These investments can make such an enormous difference,” Pritzker said. “Everything we do in early childhood education is a more cost-effective investment than virtually everything else we do.”
Country music star Dolly Parton was not in Illinois for the announcement but congratulated Pritzker and state officials.
“I am so excited to announce that Illinois is expanding my Imagination Library statewide,” said Parton. “Thank you to Governor JB Pritzker and all our local program partners across Illinois who worked hard to make this dream a reality.”
Pritzker said the small investment can make a huge impact.
“It seems like a small amount of money, less than 2 million dollars,” Pritzker said. “This is something that is going to make an enormous difference.”
The program is already active in certain counties in Illinois, serving over 30,000 children. The expansion will stretch the program to cover all of Illinois.
