Updated: 9:39 p.m.Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 | Posted: 9:00 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015

Free book program boosting student readingscores

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

BUTLER COUNTY — 

Afree book program, named in honor of a Nashvillemusical legend, is improving reading scores for local kindergarten students.

DollyParton’s Imagination Library delivers one age-appropriate, expert-selected,children’s book to the homes of enrolled children in participating communitiesevery month from birth to age 5, said T. Duane Gordon, executive director ofthe Middletown Community Foundation, one of the local sponsors.

TheMCF pays the cost of book purchase and postage for their local children — about$2 per child monthly or $24 per year — while the Dollywood Foundation coversthe administration of the program from its central location in Tennessee at no cost tothe participating communities, Gordon said. He said the program has about 2,000participating communities and has distributed about 70 million books.

InMiddletown,where the program has operated the longest, just about half of all eligiblechildren are signed up for the books, Gordon said. Madison Twp. has about 50percent; 40 percent in Monroe; 35 percent in Edgewood; and 30 percent in Franklin, the most recentcommunity added, Gordon said.

Gordonsaid Middletown City Schools have asked parents of kindergarten students at theentrance tests whether their child participated in Imagination Library.Entering kindergarten test scores of those who participated in the Middletown program haveconsistently been at least 8 percent higher than the scores of those who didnot receive the books, according to data from the school district data.

Inaddition, in Middletown, which has the second highest percentage ofeconomically disadvantaged children in Butler County, scoring in the lowest ofthe three testing bands on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy(KRA-L) dropped from 50 percent the year prior to the start of the program toabout 30 percent the last time the test was given, he said.

Onenew factor on the most recent Ohio Department of Education report cardssurprised Gordon and those at the MCF. When kindergartners’ reading skills weremeasured, the percentage reading below target for grade level was 54 percentfor Franklin City Schools, compared to 28 percent in Middletown,21 percent in Madison, 15 percent in Edgewoodand 14 percent in Monroe.

Theonly “significant difference” among the districts other than Middletown havingthe largest concentration of poverty, was that the test was given prior to thefirst books being sent from Imagination Library to Franklin children, Gordonsaid. As more children in Franklinreceive the books, he expects that number to drop and come more in line withthe figures seen in surrounding districts.

Locally,the first books arrived in Middletownchildren’s homes in January 2009. Madison Twp, Monroe and the Trentonchildren were offered books in 2011, and Franklinin 2014, Gordon said.

Asof October, 142,000 books have been delivered to 7,285 local children. Thereare 3,188 children enrolled in the program, and Gordon predicts the 150,000thbook will be met in January or February.

Thereare 38 chapters covering more than 45,000 children throughout Ohio,with the most recently added being Cincinnati.

TheMiddletown Community Foundation over the past seven years has spent about$300,000 on the purchase of these 142,000 books, Gordon said. He called thoseexpenses “a very good investment in our children and their future.”

Middletown parents agreed withGordon’s assessment.

SaraFlynn registered her son, Theodore, now 2½, when he became eligible for theprogram. Flynn said she tries to read to her son every night. She is fivemonths pregnant with her second child.

Shecalled reading “a bonding experience” that electronics like TVs and computerscan’t provide.

Reading“is a lost art” to her generation because of the advancements in technology,she said.

“Ifwe don’t demonstrate good reading patterns, they will die off,” she said.

Thefirst book every child receives is “The Little Engine That Could” and the lastbook each child receives is “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come,” both withspecial messages inside of them from Parton, Gordon said. Other than those twoselections, each month’s book is based on the child’s year of birth, whichallows for different books for multiple children in a home. For example, thismonth, children born in 2015 will receive “Corduroy Goes To The Doctor,” whilethose born in 2013 get “King Jack and the Dragon.”

Receivingthe books is a monthly ritual in the Proffitt house, said Missy Proffitt. Shesaid her daughter, Jora, 3, looks forward to receiving the books and getsexcited at reading time. She said the books are kept in the living room, andwhen a new book arrives, that’s the one her daughter selects to read with hermother.

“Aftera week or so, we then go back to her favorites,” Proffitt said.

Shehas already seen her daughter make improvements recognizing letters and words.Based off the data, she believes Jora will be better prepared for kindergartenbecause of the Imagination Library program.

“Allof this experience will add up to enthusiasm,” she said. “She is alreadylearning to love to read.”

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

To qualify for the free books through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library the child’sparent must live in one of the five school districts served by the MiddletownCommunity Foundation (Middletown, Monroe,Madison, Franklin, or Edgewood).

To register for the program, go online to imaginationlibrary.com or fill out a paperform available at the Community Foundation offices, Atrium Medical Center, WIC offices,public libraries, and several other locations in the community.

Books are ordered one month in advance around the first of the month, so ittakes one to two months before books begin arriving at the child’s home afterregistering.

  Teaching children to love books and reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. Thanks to Middletown Community Foundation.