First Lady DeWine Visits El Centro
(LORAIN, Ohio)– Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine hosted a roundtable discussion with staff of El Centro de Servicios Sociales, Inc. to highlight Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio’s new bilingual English/ Spanish book collection now available to all families in Ohio.
Pictured: First Lady Fran DeWine, Victor Leandry, Executive Director, El Centro de Servicios Sociales, Inc., Mayor Jack Bradley, City of Lorain, Cynthia Andrews, President and CEO, Community Foundation of Lorain County, and various other community leaders from Lorain County.
"The Imagination Library's new bilingual books feature English and Spanish on each page," said Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine. "It's a great resource for all families, especially those whose first language is Spanish."
In June, the Dollywood Foundation announced Ohio as one of the first states to pilot the new bilingual book collection. Families in Ohio now have the option to choose to receive either a primarily English Imagination Library collection with several bilingual English/ Spanish books, or a full bilingual English/ Spanish Imagination Library book collection.
Since June, more than 2,491children in Ohio have updated their registration to receive the bilingual English/ Spanish Imagination Library collection.
Ohio, along with Delaware, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington D.C. are now offering this bilingual collection to families. California first piloted this in 2023.
Books included in the bilingual English/ Spanish collection were selected by the Dollywood Foundation’s Blue Ribbon Book Selection Committee, comprised of early childhood literacy experts. The committee also selects titles included in the primarily English Imagination Library book collection.
Statewide, over 61% of eligible children are enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, totaling 409,084 children. Each child receives a free high quality, age-appropriate book every month in the mail. Any child from birth to age five can enroll in the program at no cost to their family. Visit OhioImaginationLibrary.org for more information.
Caregivers looking to opt-in to receive the new bilingual English/ Spanish book collection can log into the parent portal account at: ohioimaginationlibrary.org.
Caregivers looking to begin their child’s free monthly book delivery can visit ohioimaginationlibrary.org and can select the preferred book language when completing the registration.