Council re-ups imagination library funds, seeks help growing the program

Tamworth Regional Council has just approved a $200,000 annual contribution for the next two years to help finance Dolly Parton's Imagination Library through to mid-2026.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has been operating in Tamworth since 2019, delivering 118,196 books to more than 4000 children in the last five years.

All babies born from January 2019 residing in the LGA are eligible to access the program, and each child receives one free book in the mail every month from birth up until their fifth birthday.

As the program's first graduates are beginning to enter primary school, mayor Russell Webb says now's the time to build sustainability for the future.

"When those kids go to school they're at a higher level of literacy than they would be if they didn't have this program running," Cr Webb said.

"I would like to see the government jump on board and help us fund that program across NSW."

Research by Macquarie University into the program's efficacy in Tamworth shows 75 per cent of kids are now asking for daily reading sessions by the time they turn three years old, and 85 percent of caregivers feel more connected to their child and report increased quality family time.

Cr Webb says the program's successful outcomes make a strong case for the NSW government to go "50-50" with the Tamworth community on delivering the program.

Council contributions have made up 54 per cent of the program's funding since 2019, with 43 per cent coming from a mix of local donations and corporate sponsors and the remaining 3 per cent coming from philanthropic organisations.

Speaking at Tamworth council's most recent meeting, Cr Phil Betts said council's finances are getting stretched thin, but it's worth continuing to support the program as "an absolute investment in our future".

"Reading about this program's success brought back to me a memory I had with Aunty Yvonne Kent, who said it's not only the children who benefit from these books," Cr Betts said.

"She said when the littlies get these books in the mail and they get all excited it encourages the adults, the parents and the grandparents, to read and learn as well."