learn about ILPA
ILPA’s mission is to foster a life-long love of reading and to ensure that every child in Yavapai County has books in their home, regardless of their family’s income.
ILPA believes that by ensuring families in Yavapai County have books in the home, children are far more likely to develop a love of reading and become proficient readers.
ILPA covers families residing in 23 zip codes in Yavapai County, Arizona, including: Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Iron Springs, Ash Fork, Dewey, Humboldt, Kirkland, Peeples Valley, Mayer, Cordes Lakes, Bensch Ranch, Spring Valley, Paulden, Seligman, Skull Valley, Lake Montezuma, and Crown King.
Community partnerships brought this initiative to life for the Prescott Area. The idea began with the Read On Prescott Steering Committee, a group of early childhood literacy advocates who collaborate to find ways of increasing 3rd grade reading proficiency rates in our community. Sunup Rotary Club, Frontier Rotary Club, and the Prescott Rotary Club became sponsors of this initiative, each contributing equally to the cost of providing books to children, with Rotary District 5495 matching those contributions. The Friends of the Prescott Public Library also became involved to cover administrative costs, and Prescott Public Library staff and volunteers manage the registrations and administrative details. This initial program was called the Prescott Area Imagination Library (PAIL).
In an effort to reach more children in Yavapai County, a new, independent 501c3 organization, the Imagination Library of the Prescott Area (ILPA) was created. ILPA’s Board of Directors is comprised of parents, community volunteers, educators, Rotary Club members, librarians, and early childhood experts. Together they register children, raise funds, maintain a database of registrants, promote and market the program, and work with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to send each registered child an age-appropriate book every month until the child’s fifth birthday. With the support of our Community Sponsors, ILPA has been able to expand the program’s reach to cover all areas in Yavapai County that did not previously have access to a Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library affiliate.
In Yavapai County, only 42% of 3rd grade children passed the 3rd grade statewide English Language Arts (ELA) exam. But access to quality books can change that! This program goes to the heart of a critical need in Yavapai County: increasing early literacy skills and the likelihood of reading proficiency by ensuring young children have access to books in their homes, creating home libraries for families of children from birth to age 5. Here’s how we do it!
Dolly Parton Imagination Library – Read More About the Research
Read on Arizona – AZ Family Engagement Center
