VERGENNES — At the last meeting of the Vergennes Lions Club, Margo Grace of Addison County Readers spoke to the group about how the program got started in 2008 using Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Through Addison County Readers, from the time a child is born until they are 5 years of age, they receive a book each month. When children are born at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, they get registered for the program. If they are born in other hospitals or at home, parents can register them by going online to www.imaginationlibrary.com.
There is no cost to the family for the books, even though the annual cost is about $30 per child, but anyone who wishes to contribute toward that cost is welcome to do so. The program is a nonprofit with no paid staff, and depends on donations from local service organizations, town appropriations, grants and private donations. The program receives in-kind support from United Way of Addison County.
There are currently over 1,000 preschoolers receiving monthly books in the mail in Addison County. Since 2008, over 16,400 books came to the five-town Addison Northwest Supervisory Union. In the last year, nearly 1,500 books were received.
At the end of the presentation, Lions President Chuck Burkins presented Grace with a check for $250 in support of the Addison County Readers program.