Encouraging Newborn Enrollment
Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine held a press conference at The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center to encourage newborn enrollment in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio.
“When you enroll a newborn in the Imagination Library, they will be sent 60 books before they enter kindergarten. Kids are only young once. There’s only one shot at getting their growth and development right.”
Mrs. DeWine was joined by several experts who explained the brain science benefit of early childhood literacy, and how impactful reading at an early age can be through a child’s lifetime. This included Dr. Harold L. Paz, Executive Vice President and Chancellor for Health Affairs at Ohio State, and Chief Executive Officer of The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center; Laura Justice, Executive Director of The Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy; and Dr. Dane Snyder, Section Chief of Primary Care Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Additionally, Candy Engel, a nurse manager at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, detailed the process currently in place for enrolling newborns at the Wexner Medical Center. Caregivers can enroll on an iPad before being discharged or take home an enrollment flyer to sign up at a later date.
Following the press conference, Mrs. DeWine toured the Nisonger Center’s Early Learning Program and read The Rabbit Listened to a group of preschoolers. This Imagination Library book is about empathy and kindness.
