The Grants Pass Rotary Club is preparing to give away 500 early literacy books to young spectators during the annual Boatnik Parade on Saturday.
The goal of the book give-away is promoting Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program in partnership with Josephine Community Library.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth to age five every month in participating communities. A diverse batch of books is selected for each age group including bilingual books in English and Spanish, with options for Braille and audiobooks.
Through this program, every child in Josephine County is qualified to receive a book by mail at no cost to their families every month until their fifth birthday, thanks to funding support from the Grants Pass Rotary Club and a 50% matching grant from the State of Oregon.
Rotary Club President and Library Board Member Tina Gotchall said giving young children books is the perfect way to serve the community. She said the partnership between Rotary, Josephine Community Library and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library helps spark a child's love for reading and they are honored to be part of it.
Parents and caregivers can register their children for free by stopping by their nearest library branch in Grants Pass, Cave Junction, Williams or Wolf Creek and filling out a paper registration form or by filling out the online registration form at "josephinelibrary.org."
Since launching the Imagination Library in 2018, over 5,000 Josephine County children have received 137,602 books.
