ROCKFORD, Mich. — One of the best ways for a child to develop a love of reading is to grow up in a home filled with books.
Unfortunately, that’s not possible in every household in America.
This summer, 13 On Your Side is dedicated to getting books into the hands of children.
Kate Purvis is a Rockford mom who’s made that her mission as well. Purvis had heard about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
At the time, her family was living in Chicago and the program didn’t serve her community.
The family moved here to West Michigan and again, no service.
So Kate did what any mom wanting her kids to grow up loving to learn would do.
She established a local affiliate of the Imagination Library called Early Bird Books.
When Dolly Parton established her Imagination Library back in 1995 it was intended to serve children under age five who lived in the Great Smoky Mountain region of East Tennessee where Dolly grew up.
Now, nearly two decades later, the program sends more than a million books a month to children around the world.
The concept is simple. Every month, all registered kids, regardless of their family’s income, receive a high-quality, age-appropriate book in the mail at no cost.
“The littlest babies that are registered in the program will get board books focused on colors and numbers and you know, sounds,” said Purvis. “And as they age up, you get more into phonetics and narrative and really helping to develop a lot of those literacy components that children need to hear at the right ages and stages.”
Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among children and families and boy has she done it.
Imagine the excitement of going to the mailbox each month and finding adventure inside the pages of a book.
Kate’s girls have since aged out of the program but they still enjoy the books.
So far Early Bird Books has been established in Rockford, Comstock Park, Belmont and the 49507 zip code of Grand Rapids.
She hopes to expand to all of Kent County as funding becomes available. Purvis says $30 will support a child for a whole year.
That’s 12 books to be read and re-read, passed down in the household, sparking imaginations and fostering a love of reading just as Dolly had envisioned.
“Dolly really mastered the delivery system for all of these books,” said Purvis. “And it is just such an incredible program that we're able to serve this I think last summer they celebrated sending out their 200 million books worldwide.”
Kate Purvis has a goal to enroll 400 to 600 more children in Kent County by September. Right now you have to live in the four communities she’s working in.
She’s also in search of financial support to keep the program going and even expand it. Registration and donor information can be found at www.EarlyBirdBooks.org.
For families that live in Ionia, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo or Oceana Counties, they all have programs so go to www.ImaginationLibrary.com to get registered.
There is not a single program going in Ottawa County so someone needs to take a page from Kate Purvis, step up and start one!
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