Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

If you or your organisation would like to learn more about how you can support the Imagination Library in Tamworth please contact Lisa Rennie on (02) 6767 5421 or via our contact form. 

Tamworth Regional Council partnered with United Way Australia in 2019 to bring Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to children in the Tamworth region. You can partner with us to bring the magic of a library into the home, with a gift of a book every month before school begins. Every child in the program is given real, physical books to keep, and kick start a lifelong love of reading.

We believe in bringing books to homes, where parents are their child's first and most important teacher, creating precious bonds from sharing a book. Putting a book in a child's hands opens a new world to them. While it may seem simple, it's a proven first step towards much more in a child's life, sparking curiosity and building family bonds in the early years.

Research has shown that investing time, effort and resources in the early years of a child's life can have a significant impact on their success as an adult.

Your generous tax deductible donation will encourage children's love of reading and life-long learning. Children will receive a new book free of charge direct to their mail boxes every month until their fifth birthday. Also included are parent tip sheets to help in the shared reading experience.

"This program is one of the most important ways I know to improve the educational opportunities for children. Every child has a dream and the seeds of these dreams are often found in books. My Imagination Library aims to inspire children and help turn their dreams into the promise of a bright future."

Organisations and individuals can donate to the Imagination Library at any amount, however we do have sponsorship tiers. 

BRONZE Sponsorship - $540  – sponsor 5 children for 12 months

SILVER Sponsorship - $1,080 - sponsor 10 children for 12 months

GOLD Sponsorship - $5,400 - sponsor 50 children for 12 months

PLATINUM Sponsorship - $10,800 - sponsor 100 children for 12 months

DIAMOND Sponsorship - $27000 - $54000 – sponsor 50 – 100 children for the full 5 year programme

Thank you to our following sponsors:

Diamond: Wests Entertainment Group, Joblink Plus 

Gold: Lions Club of Tamworth

Silver: Tamworth West Rotary Club, Hill Lockart Architects, Rotary Club of Tamworth Sunrise Inc, Peel Valley Uniting Church, Dpartmnt

Bronze: Redimix Tamworth, Siddons Plumbing Pty Limited, Singh Property Group, Stor-Mate, Campbell Family, Buildwise Certification, Greater Bank, Kootingal CWA Branch

Did you know…
In Australia Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is funded on a local level?

The program is a community-based, early literacy intervention program that brings the magic of a library into the home of a child with the gift of a book each month from birth to five years. In Australia the program is licenced by United Way Australia (UWA), a leading non-profit organisation who work in partnership with government, local councils, businesses and community groups to deliver the program.

Australian country music artists Mark and Jay O’Shea discovered the program while living in America. Being connected to the Tamworth Country Music scene, the duo spoke with Council staff and organised for Col Murray and John Sommerlad, the Mayor and a Council Director at the time, to meet with UWA to explore the possibility of starting the program in Tamworth.

The program was formally proposed to Council, with a whole of community approach being adopted for the program and launched on 1 January 2019. Council staff worked with Tamworth Hospital’s SWIS-H staff to enroll children at birth, with almost 4,000 children enrolled.

Since the launch of the program in the Tamworth region, Council invests an average of $100,000 each financial year supporting the program, alongside donations from local businesses, community groups and Individuals.

In partnership with the Imagination Library and UWA, Council continues working to raise awareness about this very important program and encourage enrolment among families, hosting events and initiatives to promote reading and provide access to books.