As part of an initiative funded by the Petal Rotary Club and local donors, the library offers free books to all children born inside the 39465 Postal zip code since Jan. 1, 2009.
“It’s a beautiful fit under this umbrella with the services were have,” said Nadine Coleman, who helps organize the city’s Excel By Five initiative.
Coleman told members of the Petal Rotary Club on Monday at a special meeting at the Center for Families and Children that parents reading to children is essential to helping children become ready for school.
“Most research says it is the most important thing we can do for children to get them ready for school,” Coleman said.
Local parents are asked to inform the Petal Education Foundation by filling our questionnaires located at Wesley Medical Center, Forrest General Hospital, the Petal School District Central Office, and various local businesses to inform the Foundation of the birth of a child who lives in the zip code.
Coleman said she was excited about the Rotary Club’s presence in the community in promoting the Imagination Library and the services available at the Petal Center for Families and Children, formerly the Parenting Center.
According to literature about the program, “The Imagination Library was started by entertainer Dolly Parton to help the children in her home area of Sevier County, Tenn. Parton, who was raised in a home without books by adults who were unable to read, believed that all children should have the advantage of having children’s books.”
At birth, parents of children in the Petal zip code are allowed to enroll their newborns in the program. Each child who is enrolled in the month of their birth will begin to receive on book a month from the child’s first month after birth until their fifth birthday for a total of 60 books.
Local businessman and Rotarian Allen Flynt signed his grandbaby up for the program while making a donation at a Rotary meeting in early May.
“I think it’s wonderful for her to have a library of 60 books by the time she is five years old,” Flynt said. “It’s like I said (to Rotary Club members after the baby was born). I expect everybody to help raise my grandchild and I expect to help everybody raise their children. It’s a wonderful community and a wonderful community program.”
Retired Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Hutto is the new spokesperson for the group.
He said children who have a solid background before they enter a school system have a better chance of success than those who were not afforded that benefit.
“We don’t give up on them when they don’t come to school with the school without the skills they need, but it sure helps in early childhood education when they do.”
The group is also seeking local citizens to help donate money for the program, as Hutto did following his speech and he was followed by several members of the Petal Rotary Club who wrote checks to sponsor a child.
The program has been initially funded by the Rotary Club and has about $4200 left in it, but donations are being sought to expand the program and include as many children as possible. All donations are 100 percent tax deductible, chairperson Leahne Lightsey said.
The cost to sponsor one child for one year is $29. It costs $87 to sponsor a child for the entire five years.
“I can’t think of a kinder thing we can do,” Lightsey said. “We are way, way on our way to providing our babies with these books.”
To donate, write checks in any amount to The Imagination Library Fund, Petal Education Foundation, P.O. Box 948, Petal, MS 39465 or stop by the Central Office of the Center for Families and Children, located at the old First Baptist Church Building across from BancorpSouth.
According to the pamphlet promoting the program, “In communities where the Imagination Library is already active, studies have shown that the children coming to kindergarten are better prepared to learn. Having children who come to school with a background that includes books will allow students to receive a better education. This is because the time normally used teaching children from non-print households can be better utilized for instruction for everyone. The program is so effective that over two-thirds of preschoolers in the state of Tennessee are currently enrolled and the state’s school system has seen improvements as a result. Many parents with limited reading skills also see improvement in their own reading skills by reading aloud to their children.”
