FRANKFORT, Ky. (Feb. 14, 2024) - The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and The Dollywood Foundation are pleased to announce the hiring of JC Morgan as State Director of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Kentucky and Libby Suttles as its Community Engagement Director.
“Education has been a top priority for my administration since day one, so I am really excited that the Imagination Library of Kentucky has the state team on board to help provide more Kentucky children access to books that will support their early literacy and better prepare them for kindergarten,” said Gov. Andy Beshear.
Morgan has an extensive history working in public libraries, most recently as director of the Campbell County Public Library in Northern Kentucky. Morgan helped launch a local Imagination Library program in Campbell County in 2019 in a partnership between the library and six public school districts. In this new role with the Imagination Library of Kentucky, Morgan will manage all aspects of the statewide program, staffing, budget management, and developing strategies for fostering and sustaining statewide Imagination Library efforts.
“Working with the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to reach children birth to 5 years of age, by gifting books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is an incredible honor,” Morgan said, “I want every child in Kentucky to have the opportunity to enjoy the Imagination Library’s many benefits.”
Suttles has a comprehensive background in nonprofits. Most recently, she was director of Wilderness Trace Child Development Center, a preschool for children with diverse abilities. Suttles will develop and maintain strong relationships with local and community partners, volunteers, and supporters statewide.
“This opportunity allows me to fulfill many of my passions - early literacy, advocating for children, and building community partnerships in the best possible way, with books,” Suttles said.
In 2020, Gov. Beshear signed into law legislation enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly to offset the cost to local partners to support the Imagination Library in their communities. Local partners pay half of the cost of printing and mailing books to children in their areas with the state paying the remainder. The goal is to make books available to children ages 0-5 in every zip code in Kentucky. Since the statewide launch, all but two of Kentucky’s counties now have full coverage with the program serving over 107,000 children. The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives is the state sponsor of the program.
To learn more about becoming a community partner, contact Libby Suttles at lsuttles@ky.imaginationlibrary.com
To enroll in this program and learn more as it expands across the state, visit imaginationlibrary.com.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Community and State Partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 2.8 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month from birth to age five - at no cost to families. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More. The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
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Contact: Libby Suttles, Community Engagement Director, Imagination Library of Kentucky; 502-219-2063 or lsuttles@ky.imaginationlibrary.com
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