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Reminds me a bit of how Andrew Carnegie funded building public libraries: he would only build one if the local community agreed to provide books and operate it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library

Regarding cost per unit. I think the publisher likes this type of partner because they can really get their initial order volume up high without much risk. This allows them to have a super low cost per unit, maximizing profit, from the start.

This structure is (I would argue) a form of mutual aid. Alcoholics Anonymous famously operates under a similar structure. Mutual aid is very popular among Anarchists and is one of the most fundamental tactics of Anarchism, Food not Bombs probably being the most famous mutual aid movements that is explicitly Anarchists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_aid

some governments provide funding -- Tennessee has been covering half the costs statewide

Really glad to see this as the top comment.

Parton did a lot of very nice things and was a great contributor to society in good and decent ways that many of her wealth peers totally fail.

But there has since her passing been an element of myth and folklore that has elevated those accomplishments beyond reality.

Her library is a great idea and her support was notable, but the funding in large part comes from government grants and other donors.

To a large degree, the library program is also your tax dollars at work.

I'd like to hope that at least for the majority of children who age out of the Imagination Library, both the child and the parents have "become people who read" and most likely the child gets a membership to their local library.

I remember my family getting taken to our local library every couple of weeks to return and then borrow books while I was in infants school. That made me 9 or 10 years old at the very oldest, and my youngest sister would have been at most 5 or 6 years old. So I'm pretty sure aging out of the Imagination Library is a pretty reasonable time to start that child using a "real" library, and start having several books a month available for free that way.

(I fully acknowledge the immense privilege I had having parents who understood and supported the importance of reading and education. I remember being extremely bored in kindergarten - 4 or 5 years old - and getting told to sit in the back with a few other kids who could read already and we'd read books while most of the other kids were being taught to read.)

It really hits you in the feels. You get so used to receiving them and then all of a sudden it's a bit of a gut check and it reminds you your baby is growing up so fast. Plus the reminder of Dolly's kindness. Unexpected in what was just a simple trip to the mailbox.

Yes you were at first pissed, and then happy. Why pissed? because of the pride of not needing it coupled with the fear of taking it from the needy.

But it brought you and your child joy, so you did need it.

It's just an assumption that rich people have everything they need or know how to get it.

All people should be included in these programs and they will mostly give back what they can because like you, most feel they are overwhelming positive.

I do not believe it’s a lottery system. Anyone who signs up gets them. So you are not taking that book from someone else.

Look at the label on it and it will tell you who paid for the book. It’s likely your local library and other city/county programs. Donate to them instead.

We should celebrate people like Dolly and not people unworthy of celebration or celebrity.

Exactly, noblesse oblige

Many of the stories are good. The library also selects books that offer some stories reflecting diverse cultures.

Growing up in the 80s everything is white folks or animals but almost always it is about a boy or boys.

I think the baby books are still board books. Cordoroy’s Shapes is part of what I remember about our first’s earliest years. Reading it over and over. We even did a first birthday theme for it. My mom made triangle tarts.

After that they are floppy picture books. I suppose at this scale is is probably both economical and reflects some of the material involved.

That is just fine, though it’s just not the same as holding a hardcover.

Our kids don’t care about that, though. It’s more about the time and talking about the pictures and how well we ham it up.

Unfortunately they support the existence of the state of Israel, so due to matters of conscience my wife and I had to skip PJ.

Yes, and we need them also in places like CEO of AI company, CEO of space company, CEO of twitter-style communications company, ...

What Dolly was doing here is a form of mutual aid, a practice of sharing skills, knowledge, food, or material goods with your community. I encourage everyone to participate in mutual aid organizations if you are able.

The world needs more Dolly Partons, that is for sure. But lucky for us, the world has many billions of people who are willing and able to participate in the sort of mutual aid that Dolly championed.

No they are not picture-only books. They have simple stories, which are for parents to read to their children. Reading stories to children before they can read is a very, very old tradition :) (think fairy tales)

(edit - you've gotten several responses but I will say that you are correct that this sort of thing does not happen in all households; that's one reason this program is great, because it encourages this behavior)

One of the best ways to help children learn to read is to read to them, a lot.

That alone won’t teach them to read, but it will help them a lot as they work through learning.

My kids have been “learning” to read since they were born and my oldest started reading on his own at age 4-5. I didn’t push him to read at all, he surprised me when he started telling me what the signs along the road said.

My younger hasn’t taken to it quite as fast but he’s right where he should be for his age, but we read at least three books to him every day at bedtime. I still read to my older one every day (we’ve read LotR twice), even though he’s plenty capable on his own.

Not to be snarky, yes picture books, but also, adults do often read books to children.

Someone, typically a parent of guardian, reads them to you while showing you the words. After reading the story, they might go back and walk you through each word, how it's said, and its meaning.

Not only do a lot of kids learn like this, but for instance the little Polish that I know how to speak and read I learned like this as an adult with the help of a native speaker.

Are you implying there’s a chicken-and-egg problem with books? How are you supposed to learn how to read without written material?

Hah I’m in Dollywood right now randomly

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland

We get them where I am in the UK, too.

Bless Dolly, she was amazing!

I was confused by this too. Anyone?