Six years since the program's introduction into Wareham, the local chapter of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library still offers kids an early introduction to reading. 

The Imagination Library sends children signed up to the program one book a month from the time they are born until they reach five years old. 

The Friends of the Wareham Free Library started the local chapter of the program in November of 2017. 

"I think Imagination Library is one of the best programs the Friends have done for the community," said Priscilla Porter, a Friends member who has overseen the program since its beginnings. 

Porter said the program to date has signed up 526 children. This number includes children who have aged out of the program. 

Imagination Library helps children get into reading, especially if their families don't have the financial means to buy books for them. 

It's free for the families involved. Dolly Parton's Dollywood foundation donates the books, and the Friends cover a $25 annual mailing fee. 

"It's a family thing," said Porter. "Children sit with their parents or siblings to read these stories."

Porter added that, when the program started, she was told that parents and grandparents had signed up for adult literacy classes so that they could read the books to their children and grandchildren. 

"I think it just brings families together," she said. 

The success of the program speaks to the importance of reading for Wareham's community. 

The town is one of only three communities in Massachusetts signed up for Imagination Library, said Porter. 

The community has supported the Friends in its funding of the program. Porter said the Friends' campaign drives for donations to the program have been very successful, and after the most recent one, the Friends have enough in its coffers to support even more children in the program. 

Wareham also got a new Barnes and Noble bookstore in April, the first bookstore in town since 2011 and one of only two new Barnes and Noble locations opened in Massachusetts in 2023. "That tells you something," Porter said. 

Families can register for the program by filling out a form at the Wareham Free Library. The library in the month of November is operating out of its Spinney Memorial Library branch, 259 Onset Avenue, Onset. 

People who wish to donate to the Friends' fund for supporting Imagination Library can email libraryfriends59@gmail.com and request a form.