Imagination Library Expands to San Diego | California News

0:00It's September 3rd. I'm Cory with the story, and this is California News today, your AI-powered local news. Dolly Parton's imagination library is expanding this time to San Diego County. This program mails a free book every month to children from birth up to age 5. It's a huge deal because San Diego County has over 170,000 kids in that age range, making it the biggest county in the country, too. Get this kind of county-wide book program. The Dr. Su's Foundation is teaming up with the Imagination Library for this. They're all about early literacy in San Diego, and they see this as a way to honor Dolly's vision. Since 1995, the Imagination Library has already given out more than 330 million books, so this is a massive operation. This initiative is also getting support from a California State Bill, Senate Bill 1183. This bill sets up a statewide Imagination Library program and provides matching funds for local communities that raise money. It's designed to make

1:01sure that wherever you are in California, kids can get these books. The partnership is being called historic, bringing together the legacies of Dolly Parton and Dr. Su's. The idea is to get more books into the hands of kids and open up opportunities through reading. This program officially launched in California last year, and already thousands of families have shown interest. If you're in San Diego County and what your kids to get these free books, you can sign up for alerts on the Imagination Library website. And if you want to help out, you can donate directly to the San Diego County effort through their website.