{"id":608,"date":"2018-10-15T11:10:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T16:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/?page_id=608"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:52:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:52:05","slug":"imaginationlibrary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/speech-literacy-play-summer-summit\/imaginationlibrary\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n\n\t
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March 2026 – State Director Shares Program Updates on WSAZ<\/a><\/p>\n

Statewide Program Overview and Positive Impact<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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About<\/h2>\n

Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth until they begin school, no matter their family\u2019s income.\u00a0 The Imagination Library program is built on decades of reading research consistently demonstrating that having books at home helps children develop literacy skills. Children from low-income homes across West Virginia deserve access to high-quality, developmentally appropriate books.<\/p>\n

The West Virginia Department of Education and Marshall University\u2019s June Harless Center, in partnership with Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, is fostering a love of books among West Virginia\u2019s children. Books are delivered to the home on a monthly\u00a0basis at no cost to families.<\/p>\n

The June Harless Center acts as a fundraising arm for the Imagination Library program to help in meeting the long-term goal which is to ensure that every child in West Virginia has access to age-appropriate books prior to entering school.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Braille Tales Program Partnership<\/h2>\n

Braille Tales books are now available in West Virginia! in partnership with American Printing House for the Blind<\/a>.<\/p>\n

APH has partnered with Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, which offers free books to children from birth to age five in five countries. Through this partnership, select DPIL books are chosen each year to be our Braille Tales books. Braille labels are added to each book, bringing the whole family together by allowing you to read braille or print. Parents who are visually impaired and have fully sighted children can also sign up! The braille allows the parent to read to the child.<\/p>\n

Audio Book Downloads also available.<\/p>\n

Dolly Dash 5K Race for Reading 2026<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Join us for the 4th annual Dolly Dash 5K Race for Reading, celebrating 20 years of Imagination Library in West Virginia!<\/div>\n
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This is a family fun event with music, shaved ice, and Marco the Marshall University mascot, at Ritter Park in Huntington near the playground. Enter the Best-Dressed Dolly Contest in adult, child, and pet “Doggy Parton” categories!<\/p>\n

Register to get this year’s 20th Anniversary commemorative t-shirt! You do not have to run the race. Each registration sponsors a child’s one-year enrollment in the Imagination Library program, providing books to build their very own home library.<\/p>\n

FAQ: Can I register to get the T-shirt and not run the race?<\/strong> YES!\u00a0 Pick up your shirt on race day or email imaginationlibrary@k12.wv.us<\/a><\/p>\n

All proceeds directly purchase and mail books to children statewide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\tBe A Valued Sponsor - Dolly Dash 5K Race For Reading<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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 <\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\tRegister & Reserve Your Commemorative T-shirt<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\nThis feature is only available by using the Full Width or Full Width (Hero) template.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Braille Tales Program Partnership Braille Tales books are now available in West Virginia! in partnership with American Printing House for the Blind. APH has partnered with Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, which offers free books to children from birth to age five in five countries. Through this partnership, select DPIL books are chosen each year to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":681,"featured_media":2497,"parent":2239,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-608","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/681"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":98,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2538,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/608\/revisions\/2538"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/juneharless\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}