The IAL program supports high-quality programs designed to develop and improve literacy skills for children and students from birth through 12th grade in high-need local educational agencies (high-need LEAs) and schools. The Department intends to promote innovative literacy programs that support the development of literacy skills in low-income communities, including programs that:

• develop and enhance effective school library programs, which may include providing professional development for school librarians, books, and up-to-date materials to high-need schools;

• provide early literacy services, including pediatric literacy programs through which, during well-child visits, medical providers trained in research-based methods of early language and literacy promotion provide developmentally appropriate books and recommendations to parents to encourage them to read aloud to their children starting in infancy; and

• provide high-quality books on a regular basis to children and adolescents from low-income communities to increase reading motivation, performance, and frequency.

Imagination Library 

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partnerships. 

Register for Imagination Library by clicking here!