Imagination Library expands in Erie County

SANDUSKY — Families with young children in Berlin Heights, Milan and Vermilion are invited to participate in the Imagination Library program, which provides a free monthly book for kids from birth to age 5.The program, spearheaded nationally by country singer Dolly Parton, has been in Erie County for years. The Kiwanis Club took it over in 2016. Until now, it's only been offered to families in Sandusky, Perkins Township, Huron and Castalia.To sign up, go to imaginationlibrary.com, said Anne McGookey, Imagination Library chairperson for the Kiwanis Club of Sandusky, the local group that runs the program. (Look for "Find My Program" on the website under the "Getting Started" tab.)But new funding provided by the DeWine administration has allowed the program to be expanded, and in about six months, it's hoped the program will be offered in the rest of Erie County.Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran, believe it's important for parents to read to their children. DeWine persuaded the Ohio General Assembly last year to provide $5 million to assist local groups such as the Kiwanians and make free books available to as many children in Ohio as possible.The state money is supposed to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the local partners, and the Sandusky Kiwanians will have to keep finding ways to cover their costs as the program expands, McGookey said.She said the Kiwanis Club had spent about $3,400 a month to cover the costs of the program, raising about $40,000 to $45,000 a year from foundation grants, donations and other fundraising.That cost is dropping to about $1,700 a month for now, but as the program is expanded to more areas of Erie County costs for the Kiwanians will rise again, McGookey said.The club hopes civic clubs and merchants in locations now benefiting from the program, such as Vermilion, will be willing to contribute."We're hoping some businesses can step up," McGookey said.The program now serves about 1,800 kids in Erie County, but up to 4,000 kids in Erie County could benefit, she said.McGookey and Carly Rogers, youth services librarian for Sandusky Library, attended an Imagination Library workshop in Columbus just before Christmas. After the workshop, the DeWines invited workshop participants to the governor's mansion.While the governor supplied the political influence to get state lawmakers behind the program, the Imagination Library is a pet project of Fran DeWine, who described in a September interview how she read books to her own kids until she had memorized the text.She said she and the governor became aware of the Imagination Library program because it's backed in Greene County, their home county, by a local library."Our little grandchildren were getting those books," she said. "We wanted to make sure it was expanded to all of the counties of Ohio."Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran, pose for a photo with two Erie County residents involved with the Imagination Library program: Anne McGookey, left, and Carly Rogers, youth services librarian for Sandusky Library.