MANSFIELD – Parents across Richland County work “9-to-5” to put food on the table for their kids.
Dolly Parton believed that shouldn’t come at the cost of literacy, an effort she promoted around the world until her death Aug. 25 at the age of 80.
Richland County commissioners opened their meeting Thursday by officially proclaiming Friday as “Dolly Parton Day,” votin unanimously in support of Parton’s beliefs surrounding literacy.
Parton’s Imagination Library supplies free books to children aged 0-5 years old, with more than three million children registered worldwide and 300 million books gifted. More than 4,800 of those children are in Richland County.
“Dolly Parton was such a precious person on this earth, and it is very, very sad to see her go,” said Richland Public Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Chaya.
“However, her legacy will continue on, especially here in Richland County, with the Imagination Library.
“That program costs $135,000 a year to sponsor here in Richland County. The state of Ohio is very generous to sponsor half of that for our area, but we are responsible for paying for the rest,” Chaya said.
That left $65,000 to cover. Richland Public Health came into the meeting with $15,000 dedicated. Commissioner Tony Vero moved for the county to pay the remaining $50,000, “contingent upon the legalities to do so,” he said.
If not, Chaya said she would ensure other options are available.
“(The Imagination Library) will continue,” Chaya said. “We have … some funders that are very generous. If we do get into a fiscal emergency, they’ll swoop in and help us out. But it makes a big difference when local partners and local folks help contribute to a local program.”
The county will have to find the money elsewhere beyond next year, looking to private and public donations as major funding sources.
“It costs $2.62 a month to send a free book in the mail to each child, which is roughly about $30 a year, so just a $30 donation will support a child and their free books for an entire year,” Chaya said.
“People love the program, but they have to contribute back … It’s easy to pick up the free stuff, but free isn’t necessarily totally free.”
Donations to the Imagination Library can be made through the Ohio Imagination Library website or Richland Health’s website.
In the proclamation, Commissioner Cliff Mears included a quote from President Abraham Lincoln about the value of literacy.
“I retired representing publishers … I always remember, when I talk of books, the quote that Abraham Lincoln gave about the power of books,” Mears said.
“He said, ‘Books allow the dead to speak to the living, and allow the living to speak to those yet unborn,’ and I think that’s a great quote to remember for the power of books.”
