West Tennessee ACEI.

On a trip to our attic the other day, I uncovered a box labeled "Robyn and Robert's special books." As Robyn and Robert's mom, I knew exactly what I would find when the lid from the old tattered apple box was lifted and the contents revealed. Tucked neatly in the box were those storybooks they loved more than all the rest; they spent hours listening to them being read and later reading them themselves. They were the ones that made the cut ... when the others were moved to the rummage sale. These were the ones that inspired them to read and to dream big!

The State of Tennessee and Governor Bredeson are teaming up with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the Jackson-Madison County Library Foundation, West Tennessee ACEI (WTACEI) and other generous sponsors of the program so that all preschoolers can have their very own imagination library.

WTACE participated in the planning and in the Imagination Library Kickoff for Madison County, Tennessee. Parents, grandparents, caregivers, and children gathered at the Jackson Depot, a historic landmark, for storytelling, on-site registration, food, and fun!

A book will be mailed to each registered child who lives in Madison County each month until his or her fifth birthday, absolutely free. Not only did WTACEI make a donation to the Madison County project, the group supported kick-off efforts in other counties within the service area. The counties served are McNairy, Tipton, Haywood, Lauderdale, Fayette, Gibson, Henderson, Hardeman, and Chester. Many of the counties had already implemented the project while others were in the planning stages. As of June 15, 2006, the Books from Birth/Imagination Library project is available in every county of Tennessee. How exciting it was for us to have the opportunity to participate in such a worthwhile project with the hopes that some of these books would be those that inspire Tennessee's young children to read and to dream big!

--Anna Clifford, WTACEI Executive Board Jessica Beaver, WTACEI President