Imagination Library pauses book delivery

Citing funding concerns and challenging times, Imagination Library of Putnam County has put a temporary pause on programming and book delivery.

Imagination Library of Putnam County, in partnership with the Friends of the Putnam County Public Library and the Dollywood Foundation, began locally in August of 2011, providing Putnam County children ages birth to 5 with a free age-appropriate book each month.

Currently, about 950 Putnam County children are enrolled in the program. They received their last book in May 2020.

Cathryn Ensley, program chairperson, said the annual cost of the program is approximately $25,000.

“While a temporary pause in programming is discouraging after such a long run, I hope we can celebrate the community effort put forth on behalf of children’s literacy in Putnam County,” Ensley said. “In the last eight years, we have mailed over 85,700 books to Putnam County children. That’s a tremendous amount of books and it demonstrates so much love for our children. Everyone involved with Imagination Library hopes they will enjoy their collection of books for years to come.”

The decision to pause programming was not made easily. The current financial climate, dwindling grant opportunities and the unavailability of previous funding sources made the decision unavoidable.

In addition, the Friends of the Putnam County Public Library had to cancel its annual June fundraiser, Touch-A-Truck, benefitting Imagination Library of Putnam County for the second year in a row. Last year, the weather presented challenges for the annual fundraiser, while this year community health and safety surrounding COVID-19 had to be prioritized.

Longtime Friends of the Putnam County Public Library member and Putnam County Public Library staffer Lisa Barker explained that the decision was not made easily.

“I hope the community will understand what a difficult decision this was to make,” Barker said. “It was truly a joy to hear about how much our patrons enjoyed receiving the books each month.”

During the temporary pause in programming, Putnam County children will not receive books each month and new enrollments will not be accepted. In the meantime, Imagination Library of Putnam County will attempt to fundraise, seek grant opportunities and grow its endowment. The endowment, housed at the Putnam County Community Foundation, was started in honor of former library director Alice Greenburg, with the hope of sustaining the Imagination Library program for years to come.

Direct donations to Imagination Library of Putnam County may be sent to Imagination Library of Putnam County, P.O. Box 116, Greencastle, IN 46135.

Patrons with questions or concerns may contact Cathryn Ensley at ccensley@gmail.com or Pam Hunsaker, regional director of Imagination Library. at phunsker@imaginationlibrary.com.

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the world’s premier early childhood book gifting program. Dolly’s vision was to create a lifelong love of reading, prepare children for school, and inspire them to dream.