Mt. Pleasant Area children get free books through Imagination Library

Children who live in the Mt. Pleasant Area School District can get free books mailed to them monthly through a new partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The Mt. Pleasant Public Library is working with the singer’s book gifting organization to provide books for children through age five who live in the district, said director Brian Dawson. The partnership has been in the works for the last few months with help from the Michael John Kakos and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Foundation, the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Mt. Pleasant Rotary, he said.

The Imagination Library, which operates in several countries, coordinates with local entities or residents to get books into homes. A book selected by Imagination Library officials will be mailed directly to homes of registered participants for no cost.

“The power of the Imagination Library is its ability to put high-quality books into the hands of children during one of the most important times in their lives,” Dawson said.

Mt. Pleasant library joins two other organizations in the county with the partnership — foundations with the Ligonier Valley and Derry Area school districts, according to the Imagination Library website. Pittsburgh children can participate under a partnership established in 2019.

More than 100 million books have been distributed worldwide, according to the Imagination Library website.

To register, visit mountpleasantpalibrary.org or imaginationlibrary.com/usa/affiliate/PAZIP15666. Registration forms can be picked up at the library or printed out and dropped off there. There are no income requirements.