GEN: Dolly Parton

[Carlton Martz <cmartz@EEE.ORG>]

I came across this news item over the holidays and thought the group would
be interested.  Carl Martz, Librarian, Yucaipa H. S., Yucaipa, CA

"Dolly Parton gives 5,200 kids a book a month.  Every one of the 5,200
children in Doly Parton's native Sevier County are eligible to receive a
top-quality, hand-picked children's book every month, from birth until his
or her fifth birthday, plus a special bookcase to hold the 60 volumes.
These books are being given to the children free by the nonprofit Dollywood
Foundation.  Since the program began three years ago, some 91,000 books
have been distributed.  The foundation estimates 70 percent of the
preschoolers in the county are enrolled.  Last month, the National Council
of Teachers of English gave the program its 1998 Literacy Award.  The cost
for a full library, including bookcase, is $350 per child.  The Dollywood
Foundation, supported principally by Dolly Parton's annual fund-raising
concerts, has raised more than $200,000 for the program since its inception
and has committed to spend $1 million over the next five years.  Jerome
Harste, and Indiana University professor specializing in early childhood
education, said he wished public figures in every county would follow Dolly
Parton's example and support public literacy and public education."
(Editor's Note: The Dollywood Foundation Web site URL is:
http://www.dollywood.com/foundation/index.html)

Duncan Mansfield, The Associated Press
"Singer Gives Kids Greatest Gift: Books" as published in The Seattle Times,
December 27, 1998, A4

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