When a young child has a full bookshelf at home, they perform better in school, and their future becomes a lot brighter.
That’s why the Cortez Rotary Club has embarked on a fundraising campaign to restart the Imagination Library program, which promotes child literacy.
The nationwide program started by the Dolly Parton Foundation mails one free, age-appropriate book per month to low-income children ages 0-5.
The chapter in Montezuma County began in 2012 and has served hundreds of children per year, starting with the classic “Little Engine that Could.” In 2015, the program had 600 kids enrolled in the program.
But this year, the local chapter was forced to end because annual fundraising was not enough to pay for book postage. Imagination Library provides the books, if local communities pay the postage to have them mailed directly to children.
To revive it, the Cortez Rotary Club seeks to raise a one-time amount of $150,000 to create an Imagination Library endowment fund with Onward! A Legacy Foundation.
The annual interest earned from the endowment would be enough to cover the $10,000 per year it costs to operate the book program without dipping into the principal, said Nicci Crowley, deputy director of Onward!, based in Cortez.
The funding would be enough to give one free book per month for 400 local children every year.
During a recent presentation, promoters asked Montezuma County Commissioners if they would consider putting up the money as an educational service.
Raising the $150,000 would only need to happen once, said Rotary member and Cortez Mayor Karen Sheek. The return on investment from the endowment would bring stability to the program and serve a long-term educational need.
“It is an investment in our kids, and gives them the tools to be successful,” she said.
Early reading skills are a bellwether for future success, organizers said.
“Having a personal library of books in a home is a better indication of education success for children then the education level of their parents,” said Vangi McCoy, of the Montelores Early Childhood Council.
Low reading and language testing scores for local 3rd grade students is an indication of the need, she said.
Commissioner Keenan Ertel said he would be willing to consider the county pitching in $75,000 toward the endowment idea if the local community groups, libraries, and towns matched the amount.
“I’d like to see more collaboration from other partners,” he said.
Secure Rural Funds provided to the county annually may be a potential revenue source for the program, added commissioner Jim Candelaria.
Breaking the cycle of poverty is a goal of the literacy program, supporters said.
Studies show children from lower income areas such as Montezuma County hear one-third less words by age 4 than children from more affluent families, McCoy said. Reading books increases language skills and closes that gap. When children come to kindergarten without literacy skills they are immediately behind and at a disadvantage.
Families enrolled in county social programs are directed to the free book program, said county health department Bobbie Lock. And the system of mailing the books directly to the child creates excitement for reading.
“My 3-year-old gets so excited to get a book in the mail addressed to him,” said one local parent. “Then without question, we sit down and read his new book. It gives our family something new to bond with every month.”
For more information about Imagination Library contact Sheek at ksheek@cityofcortez.com. To make a donation contact Onward! at 970-565-9200.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com