A book is a gift you can open again and again. - Garrison Keillor
It sounds almost too simple to be true, but when you read regularly with your children during their first years, you are giving them the biggest boost toward a successful start to kindergarten.
Pictured are two-year-old Xander Zielinski and his mom Amanda, who says the books he receives in the mail each month are what make their nighttime routine go smoothly.
All children living in Erie County have the opportunity to become early readers thanks to United Way’s Imagination Library. The Imagination Library in our community is a FREE gift to children. And it’s easy to enroll. Caregivers of newborns or any child under the age of five, simply visit our website or fill out the application and send it in. Then, each month, a new, carefully selected book is mailed in the child’s name directly to the home. Children will have 60 books in their personal libraries by the time they turn five. Families who have more than one child under the age of five are encouraged to sign both children up so each child has their own set of books.
The Imagination Library is funded 100 percent locally through United Way. And, it costs about $300,000 to administer the program annually. In addition to individual and corporate contributions, a signature fundraising event for Imagination Library is the annual Imagination Golf Classic which is coming up early this summer! This scramble-style tournament brings area golfers together to support early literacy in our community. This year the event is:
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Venue: Lawrence Park Golf Club
Registration: 10:30 a.m. | Shotgun Start: 12 p.m.