Friends of the Knox County Library

On January 14, 2005 Mayor Ragsdale, Mayor Haslam and Gov. Bredesen joined with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Foundation to launch Imagination Library in Knox County. Since then, Knox County children under the age of five have enjoyed receiving a book in the mail each month and having their parents and grandparents read it to them.

On April 15, 2006, Imagination Library reached another milestone with the registration of 10,000 children. Over 23,000 children are eligible for the program in Knox County. Registration forms are available at all Knox County branch libraries.

The program is available to all regardless of family income. The state pays half the cost of providing an age-appropriate, hardcover book each month. The other half of the cost is covered by the Knox County Imagination Library Fund. The cost of books and mailing is $27 per child per year.

The Friends of the Library are happy to support the Knox County Imagination Library Fund.

Donations to Imagination Library may be sent to:
Knox County Imagination Library Fund
c/o East Tennessee Foundation
625 Market St., Suite 1400
Knoxville, TN 37902

For more information, please call Amy Nachtrab at 215-8784.

“Studies show that 50 percent of an adult’s mental capacity is in place by the age of four,” says Fredda Williams, Knox County children’s librarian. “Reading to young children expands vocabulary, increases attention span and stimulates imagination. What we now invest in our children will have long-term benefits for them and for our community.”

The Friends' investment in early childhood reading began in 1995, when we launched a formal Head Start Program. This program provides volunteers to read to children at local Head Start Centers. The weekly sessions are held every fall and again in the early spring.

Knox County librarian Marilyn Jones sets up the program, trains the readers and puts together a number of six-book sets selected from popular children’s literature. The three to five year olds who make up the listening audience receive a special gift at the end—a new book, one that the volunteers have used as a reader.

The volunteer readers who visit Head Start classrooms quickly discover what parents and librarians have always known—reading aloud to children is still a delight! For more information on the Head Start program or to volunteer as a reader, contact Dottie Stamper or Janet Oakes or contact the Friends office at 215-8775 or info@friendsoftheknoxcolib.org.