A Community Committed to Literacy

Submitted by: Dana Looker, Looker Books

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There are quite a lot of “C”s in the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce acronym (WCCCC). However, there is one “C” not included in the name that is always present among Chamber members – Community. If you speak to nearly every Chamber member business or organization, they will tell you that they collaborate with other Chamber or community members and organizations all the time. Businesses, nonprofits, community groups, and more help to make Western Chester County both a widespread yet small community.

For example, in the last year, several community organizations and Chamber members came together to increase literacy levels in Coatesville, and later, all of Chester County. In November of 2021, Looker Books, a new independent bookstore in Coatesville, partnered with Arts Holding Hands and Hearts (AHHAH), a Chester County nonprofit organization, to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program to Coatesville. Dana Looker, owner of Looker Books, was impressed by the Coatesville residents’ enthusiasm for books and reading but found that adults were more excited than children. Dana’s love of reading started at a very young age, and she wanted to find a way to do the same for children in her community. Her solution was to bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to Coatesville.

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood bookgifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted nearly 200 million free books in the United States,

Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more, and be more. The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics.

But, as we all know, “free” doesn’t necessarily mean free. To bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to your community, you must partner with a nonprofit organization and commit to fund the program at $2.50 per child per month, or $30 per child per year. Using her background in nonprofit fundraising, Dana researched potential nonprofit partners to support this program. Arts Holding Hands and Hearts (AHHAH) stood out due to their early childhood literacy efforts among those most vulnerable in Chester County, as well as their extensive experience partnering with other local organizations and nonprofits. Their Pop-Up Lending Library (PULL) program was particularly impressive. Not only does AHHAH provide free books for children and young adults in their PULL stations throughout Coatesville, Kennett Square, Oxford, Avondale, and other southern Chester County areas, they also partner with local nonprofit organizations to make this program a success. Good Works, a non-profit organization helping low-income homeowners to repair homes, assists with building PULL stations and teaching others how to build their own. Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC), a community- based organization that opens opportunities for individuals to prepare for sustainable employment and financial independence through education, training, and support services, has offered their facility as a donation drop off location and storage space for the hundreds of new and used books

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