Bringing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Every County

– Kelly Griffith, State Coordinator, Office of Teaching and Learning, West Virginia Department of Education 

The October 2022 Crucible of Practice Salon featured the partnership between West Virginia’s Department of Education, the June Harless Center housed at Marshall University and the Early Learning Technical Assistance Center, and explored how this collaboration supports the expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) to every county in West Virginia, ensuring that every child birth through age 5 is eligible to enroll in the program.

The session opened with an introduction to the partnership structure by Kelly Griffith, State Coordinator in the Office of Teaching and Learning with West Virginia’s Department of Education. Griffith also provided a summary of West Virginia’s statewide efforts in the shared agenda of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR). Afterwards, Tarabeth Heineman, Ph.D., the Executive Director of the June Harless Center, shared the history of DPIL in the state and provided an overview of the timeline of DPIL’s statewide expansion. Brittany Fike, also with the June Harless Center, described the goals and impacts of the program. Family engagement strategies and a personalized family experience also were shared. Alicia Syner, the Program Developer for Imagination Library with the June Harless Center, reviewed the program structure and elements of implementation, including funding.