Local entities partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to gift free books to children

To combat reading difficulties among young children in the Lawton community, Lawton Public Schools and several other entities are collaborating with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to give children age 5 and under a free book each month, regardless of the family’s income.

According to a release, Footsteps to Greatness, a non-profit organization in Lawton in memory of late retired Lt. Col. Eugene DeLoach, recently made a donation to Lawton Public School Foundation to implement the Imagination Library.

“This program will inspire the children of Lawton to love to read,” Regina DeLoach said. Her late husband retired from the Army in 2008 after 20 years of service and then worked as a Department of the Army Civilian at Fort Sill. He died in 2022. His love for serving the community and educating the youth inspired his family to create Footsteps to Greatness.

Lawton Public Schools and Lawton Public School Foundation are collaborating with Footsteps to Greatness, LIMA, Fort Sill, City of Lawton, Lawton Public Library, NSPDK Inc., SJMBC, the Oklahoma State Department of Education as well as the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce to make the program possible, the release said. While Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library covers the cost of the books, funding needs to be secured for the postage of each book. Since May, the Lawton-Fort Sill Coalition has been meeting to plan fundraising and marketing. According to the release, 277 Lawton kids are registered so far.

“LPS Foundation is committed to education in our community and we’re proud of our programs that foster learning,” Lisa Carson, executive director of LPS Foundation, said. “Most importantly, we believe that being read to and learning to read at a young age greatly increases a child’s ability to succeed in school and life.”

The initiative comes during a time of growing awareness of Oklahoma’s problems with young children’s literacy skills. In 2020, 41 percent of kindergarten students were determined at risk for reading difficulties. After the pandemic, national research reported that 50 percent of kindergartens were at risk in literacy, the release said.

Enrollment in the program is possible via https://imaginationlibrary.com/usa/affiliate/OKLAWTONPSD/.