Free books for Orange Park preschoolers

School Board Chair Mary Bolla appeared before the Orange Park Town Council last week to inform council members about a program that supplies free books to children up to five years of age.

She said Delta Kappa Gamma, an organization of women educators, in conjunction with the Clay Education Foundation, is sponsoring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in zip codes 32073 and 32043.

“Rarely do we get the opportunity to talk about a free service,” Bolla told council members. “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library offers books to families from the time children are born until they reach the age of five years.”

Bolla said a newborn in Orange Park would receive “The Little Engine that Could” and then receive an additional one book per month until they reach the age of five.

“By the time they are five, they get 60 books,” she said. “The final book is ‘Lookout Kindergarten, Here I Come.’”

Bolla said that now, her group is trying to raise public awareness of the opportunity so the parents, grandparents or guardians of children living in the two zip codes will sign up their children.

“Children can be signed up at any age: from birth to age five,” she said. “The books are age-appropriate and are free to the family.”

Bolla said the Delta Kappa Gamma chapter supplied the seed money for the program, mainly through donations from retired teachers. The cost to the chapter for each child receiving the full complement of books is $125.

“We are seeking donations from a variety of clubs and organizations, and we will be doing that for many years to come,” she said. “Our ultimate goal is to cover all of Clay County.”