Arkansas Imagination Library

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

ARIL has four goals to ensure an effective implementation plan for delivery:

Goal 1: Provide support to ensure healthy affiliates in all 75 counties.
Since the establishment of the state office in August 2017, ARIL has worked with local affiliates and Arkansas communities to grow the number of counties served. ARIL met our goal of coverage in all 75 counties in 2020. Now ARIL is focusing on strengthening affiliate infrastructure, growing enrollment and fundraising capacity, and engaging communities through current partners and potential new partnerships.

Goal 2: Serve 60% or more of the total 0 - 5 population in Arkansas.
Since 2017, the number of children receiving books has increased from 16,700 to over 80,000. ARIL continues to work with all Arkansas counties to grow the number of enrolled children to 122,553 - 65% of the children in the state of Arkansas. After reaching the 65% goal, ARIL will continue to grow the number of children receiving books in the state. ARIL desires for ALL children ages 0-5 to receive books.

Goal 3: Provide 50% matching dollars to support affiliates.
ARIL works with DPIL and the local county affiliates to provide support for the success of the programs in Arkansas. In partnership with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, ARIL has funding from a federal grant that covers 50% of the cost of books for every affiliate, leaving local affiliates to fund the remaining 50% of expenses. Grant funds ensure that ARIL can help Arkansas affiliates continue intentional enrollment growth by reducing the financial burden at the local level.

Goal 4: Provide research to show the Imagination Library’s impact on the culture of reading and grade-level reading to gain sustainable funding.

As of August 2021, ARIL has provided research to show the impact of the Imagination Library on the culture of reading and grade-level reading. As stated above, the initial 2021 study demonstrated that enrollment in the Imagination Library increases retention, kindergarten readiness, and third grade literacy test scores. ARIL will continue to provide research showing the ongoing impact of the Imagination Library on children's literacy by conducting an annual analysis of new data. By December 2023, ARIL expects to publish the research findings in several prominent national journals. The research is currently being shared with Arkansas legislatures and other leaders across the state.

GOALS AND STRATEGIES

ARIL has four goals to ensure an effective implementation plan for delivery:

Goal 1: Provide support to ensure healthy affiliates in all 75 counties.
Since the establishment of the state office in August 2017, ARIL has worked with local affiliates and Arkansas communities to grow the number of counties served. ARIL met our goal of coverage in all 75 counties in 2020. Now ARIL is focusing on strengthening affiliate infrastructure, growing enrollment and fundraising capacity, and engaging communities through current partners and potential new partnerships.

Goal 2: Serve 60% or more of the total 0 - 5 population in Arkansas.
Since 2017, the number of children receiving books has increased from 16,700 to over 80,000. ARIL continues to work with all Arkansas counties to grow the number of enrolled children to 122,553 - 65% of the children in the state of Arkansas. After reaching the 65% goal, ARIL will continue to grow the number of children receiving books in the state. ARIL desires for ALL children ages 0-5 to receive books.

Goal 3: Provide 50% matching dollars to support affiliates.
ARIL works with DPIL and the local county affiliates to provide support for the success of the programs in Arkansas. In partnership with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, ARIL has funding from a federal grant that covers 50% of the cost of books for every affiliate, leaving local affiliates to fund the remaining 50% of expenses. Grant funds ensure that ARIL can help Arkansas affiliates continue intentional enrollment growth by reducing the financial burden at the local level.

Goal 4: Provide research to show the Imagination Library’s impact on the culture of reading and grade-level reading to gain sustainable funding.

As of August 2021, ARIL has provided research to show the impact of the Imagination Library on the culture of reading and grade-level reading. As stated above, the initial 2021 study demonstrated that enrollment in the Imagination Library increases retention, kindergarten readiness, and third grade literacy test scores. ARIL will continue to provide research showing the ongoing impact of the Imagination Library on children's literacy by conducting an annual analysis of new data. By December 2023, ARIL expects to publish the research findings in several prominent national journals. The research is currently being shared with Arkansas legislatures and other leaders across the state.

In 1995, Dolly Parton launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee. Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. To date, DPIL mails free, high-quality, age-appropriate books to over 2.3 million children each month directly to their home from birth to age five in participating communities within the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. Dolly's homegrown effort is now a part of thousands of communities' early childhood strategies and is increasingly a vital part of educational policy for states, provinces, and territories.

In 2002, local communities throughout Arkansas started county affiliates to deliver books in the natural state. In July 2017, Governor Asa Hutchinson provided a one-time gift to create the Arkansas Imagination Library (ARIL), a statewide 501c3 nonprofit organization that works with local affiliates to expand the program. As a licensed partner of DPIL, our mission is to increase literacy in Arkansas by ensuring all young children across the state may participate in the Imagination Library. ARIL believes reading begins at birth, the benefits of a home library go far beyond the books, and parents/guardians are a child’s first and best teacher. Since 2017, ARIL has worked with local communities to grow the program from 54 to all 75 counties; increasing the number of children receiving books each month from 16,700 to over 80,000 today (or 43% of the total 0 to 5 population).

By providing books at no cost to families, the Imagination Library increases childhood literacy rates, fosters a love of books, and promotes a culture of reading among underserved families in high-risk communities of Arkansas.

1. Since 2017, Arkansas Imagination Library (ARIL) has work with local communities to grow the program from 54 to all 75 counties in Arkansas; increasing the number of children receiving books each month from 16,700 to over 80,000 to (or 43% of the total 0-5 population.)
2. Included in the total enrollment numbers, ARIL has grown from 7,318 newborns enrolled (age 0 to 1 - born in 2021/22) to 9,974 newborns enrolled (age 0 to 1 - born 2022/23).
3. From January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, ARIL served 97,090 total children across the state of Arkansas. ARIL predicts we will serve a total of 125,000 unduplicated children in 2023, of which 20,000 will be age 0 to 1.
4. Preliminary findings from our first data analysis conducted by an outside team shows that enrollment in the Imagination Library decreases retention, and increased kindergarten readiness and third grade literacy test scores. (Walker, J.T.; Parham, C. R.; Holland, G. (2021) Arkansas Research Center, University of Central Arkansas.)
5. Arkansas Imagination Library affiliates have mailed 4.04 million books (and counting) to children in Arkansas since 2005.