More than 1,000 kids soon will begin receiving books from Dolly Parton’s Imaginary Library in Jefferson and Walker counties in 2023.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced support for a statewide Imagination Library network, along with more than $4 million in funding, on Jan. 18.

At Better Basics, a Birmingham-based nonprofit organization that has worked with the project since 2014, 762 children signed up the same day and night.

“When I said we were standing there watching the numbers, it was like the world clock,” said Darlene Gray, the interim executive director and director of programs at Better Basics. “They were just: ‘Tick, tick, tick, tick.”

The Imagination Library mails an age-appropriate book to children from birth to age 5 every month. The program is free. A list of available books can be found here. Better Basics’ Imagination Library registration form can be found here.

Since the team at Better Basics, which is dedicated to advancing children’s literacy, began working with the Imagination Library, they have given out 289,591 books to 28,274 children in Jefferson and Walker counties.

Inside the Better Basics office, brightly colored books line the walls from floor to ceiling. They’re organized by category, from books about Earth, the world, seasons, nature to a section called “silly poems.”

A huge banner of Dolly herself greets visitors in the lobby with the words “inspire a love of reading.”

Geovanna Caves coordinates Better Basics’ Imagination Library program and said she was drawn to the position because of its reach and impact. Caves, who was a teacher before coming to Better Basics, said she went from working with 20-30 kids each year in her classroom to thousands each month through her new role.

Caves said it warms her heart to see the program’s impact.

“As a former teacher, seeing those kids that don’t have books, you know, you say, ‘Okay, well, you’ve got to fill out this reading log,’ and they’re like, ‘Well, I don’t have any books at home,’” she said. “Just knowing well, these kids are going to have tons of books by the time they get to kindergarten or first grade.”

Before Caves joined the team in 2020, the program averaged between 150-200 new registrations each month at Better Basics.

Caves began creating partnerships throughout the community, including at hospitals churches and home daycares.

“I just started going wherever there was a daycare,” she said.

Since Caves took the position, the average number of new registrations each month has jumped to 400 to 500. Currently, the program serves 6,049 children between both counties. Since 2014, 22,225 have graduated the program.

Caves also advocated for the expansion of the program and was integral in the addition of Walker County, Gray said.

Development and administrative coordinator Connor Cranford said “one is a singular number,” but the impact of a book each month builds over time, especially for kids whose parents may not have the means to buy them new books or the transportation methods to get to a library.

“One out of five live in poverty,” Cranford said of kids in Jefferson County, “so if their families are struggling to provide the basics, they probably don’t have any books.”

In Jefferson County, 22.5% kids live in poverty, along with 23.7% in Walker County, according to the most recent data from the Economic Research Service at the USDA. In 2022, Alabama ranked fifth in the United States for the greatest number of children living in poverty, accounting for 22.7% of kids statewide.

Gray said one book can serve many purposes.

“The child can hear the language, hear the different words, can learn the vocabulary if someone will explain the words to them,” Gray said. “You can take a book and you can teach the letters of the alphabet just from the title; you can teach the punctuation in it. You can teach even math skills — you can look at how many characters are on the page or who’s in the front and the middle in the back.”

Gray clarified that if a child doesn’t have strong literacy skills when entering school, it doesn’t mean they can’t catch up.

“It’s not that our students can’t catch up — they can but they’re already at a deficit, so then it just takes longer,” she said.

Cranford added that integrating books early can help children be more prepared before they start school.

“With Dolly Parton Imagination Library, you are starting at the foundation,” she said. “So you are targeting the youngest children and getting them set on the right path, rather than later having to sort of figure out how to make things better.”

Gray added that story time was one the most exciting parts of teaching. She said watching children grow in confidence, raise their hands to read in class and become empowered to tackle bigger vocabulary word is powerful.

“We always say we can go anywhere in a book. You know, we can be in the royal family events, we can be on a safari, it doesn’t matter,” Gray said. “We lose ourselves in the books, and that’s what we as teachers want for our students, and we want them to have a lifelong love of reading and it starts right there with Dolly Parton.”