PRESQUE ISLE — A new partnership between The County’s four hospitals and the United Way of Aroostook will help put a new book in the hands of families with infants and toddlers each month.
Representatives from The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle, Cary Medical Center in Caribou, Houlton Regional Hospital and Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent recently joined with leaders of the United Way of Aroostook and the Aroostook County Action Program’s Family Services to announce their support for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The nationwide initiative, which United Way of Aroostook launched locally in October 2013, puts a new book in the hands of participating families with children from birth to age 5 at no cost to them every month.
“We are thrilled with the support that all four county hospitals have given to this project,” Claudia Stevens, executive director of the United Way of Aroostook, said. “They all recognize the importance of the program and have been so willing to help us expand it to reach more young families. We look forward to working with them to make this an ongoing success for The County’s youngest citizens.
“Currently, there are 1,355 kids registered in the program, and the number grows every day,” she continued. “There are nearly 3,500 children under the age of 5 living in Aroostook County, and our hope is to have them all registered in this program.”
As part of the partnership, nursing staff at the four hospitals will provide the opportunity for parents of newborns at each of their facilities to sign up for the free book delivery program before they leave the hospital with their newborn child. Additionally, each hospital has agreed to sponsor the program, through the United Way, for the babies born at their hospital. The contributions will help underwrite part of the cost of the program.
“We are so pleased to be able to partner with United Way of Aroostook and our friends and counterparts throughout The County on this most worthwhile project,” Pam Lilley, a registered nurse and manager of the TAMC Women and Children’s Unit, said. “We have the great privilege and pleasure of helping young families bring new life into the world, and to be among the first to welcome The County’s newest citizens. This is an amazing program that allows us to extend our care beyond those first few precious hours to help instill a lifelong love for reading that will serve our newborns well throughout their lives.”
According to United Way of Aroostook officials, the average cost of each book and the associated mailing expense to get it to each child monthly averages $2.08. It’s an investment that all partner hospitals feel is well spent.
Since its initial program launch in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gone from just a few dozen books to over 60 million books mailed to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The United Way of Aroostook is among the more than 1,600 local community organizations that provide the Imagination Library to over a quarter million children each and every month.
The announcement about expanding the initiative in Aroostook was made in a Head Start Program classroom at the ACAP Family Center in Presque Isle. The location was chosen to involve children and to underscore the importance of reading to young ones at an early age. Representatives from each of the four hospitals took a moment after the announcement to read their favorite children’s book to students in Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms.
ACAP Family Services is a United Way-funded agency. Officials with the group also were on hand for the event to lend their support and encouragement.
“What a joy it is for kids to get their first books in the mail,” Sue Powers, ACAP program manager, said. “When a book arrives from Dolly, it’s an extra special treat that will bring years and years of enjoyment to that child and to the family. I know this personally because my granddaughter receives her Dolly books every month and she looks forward to those.”
Well-known country music entertainer Dolly Parton launched the Imagination Library initiative in 1995 in her home county in east Tennessee. Her vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing the gift of a specially selected book each month.
The United Way of Aroostook adopted the project as part of their community impact initiative, one section of which calls for a targeted, proactive use of funds and resources to bring about lasting changes in the community through the promotion and support of early childhood literacy and school preparation.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in five Maine children under 6 years old lives in poverty. Officials with the United Way of Aroostook, who are actively fundraising to grow the program, say donations totaling $2,000 will purchase books for about 80 children for a year.
The boost from the four hospitals to promote the program, help young families with newborns sign up and underwrite part of the cost for each child born at their respective facilities is tremendous according to Stevens. The United Way executive is hoping by stepping forward in this leadership role, the health care organizations will serve as a catalyst for other organizations, businesses and individuals to support the worthwhile project.
“When it’s at its fullest capacity, the program is going to cost about $55,000 a year,” Stevens said. “But when you look at the longterm benefits and the sustainable change that the program creates, that’s a small price to pay for our youngest citizens.”