Perhaps Dr. Seuss said it best. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” We are excited to have the libraries in Alcona County participating in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library project this year. In our estimation teaching a child to read is one of the greatest gifts a child will ever receive, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library project has a proven track record of success. The program each month sends out age-appropriate books for free to children, up to age 5, who have registered through her foundation. The Alcona County libraries in Harisville and Curtis Township will be participating this year in the program, along with the Iosco-Arenac Library in East Tawas. Funding from a number of local sources will be matched with the Dolly Parton donation to get the program started. If a child was signed up at birth to participate, he or she could receive 60 books through age 5 to read. This child literacy effort is a wonderful concept and we’re glad to see it implemented locally. As education officials debate and discuss the decline in test scores across the state, they would do well to ponder a statewide program like this to get books into the hands of children at a very young age to encourage their reading skills. As Alcona County gets started in the program, it would be nice to see it expanded to other counties in the region as well.