ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Woman’s Club presented a check for $5,310 to Delta Kappa Gamma teachers’ sorority to help fund the Dolly Parton Imagination Library project in Clay County.

Parton’s project provides free books to children from birth to 5 years old. Registration is free of cost and can be done at the hospital when a child is born or online at Imaginationlibrary.com.

“You can fill in your information and then it will then tell you that it is available in your area and point you in the direction of online registration,” said Communications Liason for the club, Sandy Keller.

The program is already available in Green Cove Springs and has just become available in the 32073 zip code, which includes Orange Park, Lakeside and Argyle Forest. Spreading a love of education and literacy has been one of many key aspects of the Orange Park Woman’s Club, a volunteer, non-profit organization and a member of the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs.

“The Woman’s club was responsible for starting the library services in the community,” Keller said. “So the library is a very old part of the mission of the woman’s club. That’s why this project is so important. It’s really been a lifelong, organizational journey for supporting education and libraries.”

Gale Miller, the Education and Libraries Community Service Program Chairman, agreed.

“Originally, in Orange Park, we helped to establish the library system here, so it really is a legacy that we’re carrying out.” Having founded more than 474 public libraries and 4,655 traveling libraries in the 1930s, The American Library Association credited GFWC with establishing 75% of America’s public libraries. In the 21st century, libraries continue to be an important part of our communities, as demonstrated by a 2013 survey in which 90% of Americans, ages 16 and older, said the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their community. Literacy is also a catalyst for participating in social, cultural, political and economic activities, and for learning throughout life.

“Kids being exposed to books is so key to education. It predicts how they are going to do in school, and if they perform well in school, it opens doors to be successful in life,” Miller said.

According to First Reader Statistics, the greatest amount of brain growth occurs between birth and 5. By the age of 2, children who read regularly display greater language comprehension, larger vocabularies and higher cognitive skills than their peers.

“So I personally feel that it is a great program, and I think it helps our community, and our schools, and hopefully, it will help produce people in the workforce and in society who are contributors,” Miller said.

“We want to instill a love of reading in young children,” Keller said.

Not only will the program give children a head start on expanding their vocabulary and building independence and self-confidence, but having access to books early in life helps children learn to make sense of the world around them, build social-emotional skills and of course, imagination.

“Each county can partner with the Dolly Parton Imagination library by signing up and guaranteeing a certain amount of money to help fund the shipping cost for those books to that specific area,” Keller said.

“But the real goal is to see this across the county,” Miller said.

Green Cove Springs was the first to be selected for the program because the organization felt it had the most need for literacy among young children.

“But we are wanting to support Orange Park as well, so we did a fundraiser to help bring those books to Orange Park,” Keller said.

To support the efforts of students, teachers and parents, community organizations raised funds for shipping costs of $25 a year, for each child at the Orange Park Women’s Clun’s annual Rummage Sale.

“Throughout the year people call us to donate to the annual sale. Over $5,000 were raised, We also received donations outside of the rummage sale,” Keller said.

If you would like to support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, contact the Orange Park Woman’s Club. The Committee meets on the first Thursday of each month at 130 Kingsley Ave. Women seeking an opportunity to make a difference and give back to the community are invited to visit orangeparkwomansclub.com for more information. Donations to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library can also be made the to Clay Education Foundation.