Statewide IL Talking Points
Intro: Statistics & Why Early Literacy Matters
- By age three, children from low-income families may hear 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers.
- Vocabulary development by age three has been found to predict achievement by third grade.
- Children with as few as 25 books in the home complete an average of two more years of schooling than those with no books.
- Only 43% of Tennessee third graders are reading proficiently.
- Reading aloud is widely recognized as the single most important activity leading to literacy acquisition.
About GBBF/IL:
- Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, in partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, builds a foundation for reading and learning through books for Tennessee’s children.
- All children from birth to age five in Tennessee are eligible to enroll in the program and receive one age-appropriate, high-quality book in the mail each month from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, at no cost to families and regardless of income.
- Tennessee’s Imagination Library is a three-way partnership among Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, the Dollywood Foundation, and a local affiliate in each of our 95 counties.
- While the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation utilizes an annual state allocation, along with private and corporate donations, to pay for 50% of the program cost, each county’s local affiliate, primarily run by volunteers, raises funds to pay for the other 50%.
- The Dollywood Foundation consults a blue ribbon panel of authors and educators to select the books, manages the distribution and mailing of the books monthly, and maintains an online enrollment and book ordering system.
- We are the only Imagination Library that is STATEWIDE—has an affiliate in each county of the state.
GBBF/IL Impacts:
- In 2014, GBBF did a meta-analysis of focus groups, scientific studies and research on Tennessee’s Imagination Library, and found the following impacts as a result from participating in the program:
- Children are more prepared for school and have stronger early reading skills.
- Children develop essential life skills.
- Imagination Library fosters strong speech and vocabulary.
- Families connect around books, and books in the home support a child’s continued success.
- Children begin school with book handling skills and an understanding of letter & word concepts.
- Children are excited about books and reading!
- From 2011-2014, the Urban Child Institute did a study with Shelby County’s Imagination Library, following IL participants from kindergarten to 2nd grade, and found that former IL participants continued to score significantly higher on reading comprehension and vocabulary measures.
- From 2007-2013, Knox County Schools did a study on former Imagination Library participants and their performance on the Kindergarten Assessment and third grade reading examinations. They found that former IL participants scored higher than non-participants on the Kindergarten Literacy Assessment, and three years later, performed better than non-participants in almost every demographic category on the third grade Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP).
Statewide Growth & Statistics
- 27 million books delivered since 2004.
- 63% of Tennessee birth to age five children are receiving books.
- Over 256,000 books will be delivered this month
- Over 507,000 five-year-olds have graduated from Tennessee’s Imagination Library.
Call to Action
- Enroll your child in the program or give to your local county’s Imagination Library by visiting calling
(877) 99-BOOKS, or contacting your county’s Imagination Library directly.