Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio
Collaborative Efforts to Improve
School Readiness & Literacy in Cincinnati
Research has shown that children who have participated in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are significantly more likely to be ready for kindergarten compared to students who have not participated in the program.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, in partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools and Reach Out and Read, partnered together in 2015 to increase the number of books children had in the home by providing access to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Among kindergarten classes at Cincinnati Public Schools, Kindergarten Readiness Assessments rose by 15.4% among children who participated in the program for only three years. Scores rose from 42.9% in the 2016-2017 incoming kindergarten class to 58.3% in the 2018-2019 incoming kindergarten class