Four-year-old Elon looks forward to receiving his Imagination Library books. Though his family has moved three or four times in his short life, the books still arrive in his mailbox every month. “I like to read them,” because they’re fun.”Elon is one of more than 20,000 children in Summit and Medina counties that receive one free book every month from United Way’s Imagination Library program. Last year, the program celebrated its 1 millionth book delivered to local kids. By helping children develop an early love of reading, Imagination Library is advancing United Way of Summit & Medina’s Bold Goal 1 – to boost third grade reading proficiency among Akron Public Schools students to 65 percent.
Elon’s parents read him his books at bedtime and before every nap. Studies show reading to children helps stimulate their imaginations, contributes to language development, and helps to encourage early literacy. As Elon has grown, recalls his mom, his Imagination Library books have grown with him. The first books he received were mostly just pictures. Now, they have more and more words for him to learn.
Your gift to United Way of Summit & Medina supports programs like Imagination Library, which are part of an ecosystem of supportive services – available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and always just a phone call away.