Celebrating 100,000 Books Mailed
The DeGood Foundation Mails 100,000th Book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Hampton Roads.
Newport News, VA - May 20, 2024 — Since 2019, The DeGood Foundation has been the proud local program partner for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Hampton Roads, inspiring a love of reading. As of May 2024, The DeGood Foundation has mailed 107,775 free, high-quality, age-appropriate books to over 7,200 Hampton Roads children, celebrating a milestone of over 100,000 free books mailed.
“Since we started the Foundation in 2017, we knew we wanted to achieve great things together with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library,” said Kyle DeGood, Founder and Executive Director of The DeGood Foundation. “When we officially launched the program in the Hampton Roads community in 2019, we didn’t know what to expect. We started with just 200 kids enrolled in the first week, and we thought we were hot stuff then! Here we are today with over 5,000 kids getting free books each month in the Peninsula region, making us the largest Imagination Library program in Virginia. It’s hard to believe that we’re already celebrating our 100,000th book!”
Recent legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly supports continued expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library book gifting program in Virginia. Virginia State expansion monies were approved in 2022 and renewed for the next 2 years.
Children enrolled in the Imagination Library receive a free brand-new, age-appropriate book in the mail every month from the time they are born to age five. Parents and guardians can register at their local library branch or online at www.degoodfoundation.org or www.imaginationlibrary.com.
About The DeGood Foundation
Founded by Kyle DeGood in 2017, The DeGood Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is the home of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The foundation’s mission is to ensure that all children in Hampton Roads will have equitable access to early literacy resources. Since 2019, the foundation has mailed over 100,000 books to children through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and has become the largest local program partner of the Imagination Library in Virginia, serving over 5,000 children each month. For more information, visit www.degoodfoundation.org, and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted nearly over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. The Imagination Library mails more than 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more.
The program has been widely researched and results demonstrate the positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.