Get busy reading!

Today is Read Across America Day. The goal of the day — established by the National Education Association in 1998 — is to excite children about reading. This date was chosen because it is the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.

An important tool in advancing reading and literacy is Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which, through The Dollywood Foundation, provides a free, age-appropriate, high-quality book each month to children from birth to age five, no matter their family's income.

Established by Dolly Parton and Dollywood in 1988, the program provides books every month to participating children in communities across the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.

The Imagination Library currently distributes books each month to 1.7 million children around the world. Since its launch in 1995, the Imagination Library has gifted over 150 million books to children, and continues Dolly's mission to inspire a love of reading around the world. 

Check out this video to hear from Jeff Conyers, Dollywood Foundation President; Ann Staup, CEO of Direct Mail Services, the key distribution partner for all those books; and Brittany Angello, the parent of a precocious four-year-old who eagerly awaits her book from Dolly every month.

Happy Read Across America Day! Click the link for more information about getting books for a child in your life.