Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
As a partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, United Way of Acadiana puts free books into the hands and hearts of children in our community. The presence of books in the home supports the child’s academic, social, and emotional development. Children develop a special bond with their parents and caregivers by reading together.
We invest in early literacy in Acadiana because supporting youth opportunity is one of our core missions.
- 90% of physical brain development occurs in the first three years of life, when a baby forms over 1 million new neural connections per second.
- When a young child enters kindergarten ready for school, there is an 82% chance that the child will master basic skills by age 11, compared with a 45% chance for children who are not school-ready.
- Later in life, at-risk children who do not receive high-quality early childhood experiences are 25% more likely to drop out of school, 40% more likely to become teen parents and 60% less likely to attend college.
- Investment in high-quality early childhood programs for at-risk children from birth to age five delivers a 7-10% annual return on investment through improved education, health, social and economic outcomes, increased productivity and the reduced need for social spending.
Invest with us in one of these two ways:
- REGISTER your child to receive free books. Eligible low-income children must be 0-4 years of age and live in Acadia, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Martin or Vermillion parish.
- SPONSOR a child to receive free books. Help us clear our waiting list by sponsoring a child, ranging from $50 for a 4-year-old (1 year of books) to $250 for a child under the age of 1 year (5 years of books). There is even an option to sponsor a child of your choosing!
